


The Soldier and His Spy

by onelastgingeronamission



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-28
Updated: 2016-01-01
Packaged: 2018-04-11 18:46:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 26,405
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4447544
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/onelastgingeronamission/pseuds/onelastgingeronamission
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What if the Avengers started when they were 17 and not older? What happens when Natasha joins the gang after being rescued from Red Room? Our characters fight evil, fight each other and develop relationships that will be put through the test as they grow together and apart. (Captain America/Black Widow, YES AS A SHIP!) (Orignally published on Fanfic.net)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! So this is my second posting of my favorite story that I ever wrote. It got a lot of positive feedback so now it's on here! I hope you enjoy!

I opened up the car door slowly, and began to step out, hearing my foot hit the snow with a sharp crisp. Hearing the drivers door open, I placed my other foot down and swung myself sideways. Looking up, I was assaulted by the gently falling snow and gazed up at what they claimed would be my new home. It was brighter than the sun against the pitch blackness of the night and seemed to actually scrape the sky. The trunk popped open as I stood and softly closed the door behind me, unable to tear my eyes away from the spectacle in front of me.  
"Welcome to Stark Towers, Miss Romanoff" I heard the trunk slam shut, and turned my head curtly in that direction. Facing me was the man, who I was told, started it all. He hold me his name was Howard Stark and he was an inventor. Also the resident of the towering structure in front of me, along with his son. He set my duffel bag on his shoulder and placed his hand on the small of my back. I tensed as he touched me and tried not to resist too much, as he led me towards the beginning of my new life, cutting through New York foot traffic.  
"So...this is where you live?" I spoke in flawless English, despite my strong Russian accent. Pushing the door open, he lead me ahead of him as he punched in a few numbers into a keypad as the door sealed itself.  
"Well it's your home as well, along with the Headquarters of Stark Industries, testing levels, and multiple labs." We walked into a steel elevator and I crossed my hands behind my back as the doors slowly closed.  
"Welcome back, Mr. Stark." An unknown voice spoke out as my hand grabbed my pistol from it's holster and pointed it at the door. "Weapon detected, sir. Should I take action?" The voice spoke once again as the elevator stopped and the lights dimmed. I increased the grip on my gun and straightened my posture.  
"Miss. Romanoff, please lower your weapon. It's just JARVIS, Just a Rather Very Intelligent System, he runs the building. JARVIS, continue our route back to the penthouse and round up my son please." The lights returned and we began our ascending journey again.  
"As you wish sir," The voice said before disappearing and I lowered my gun back into it's position, but kept my hand touching it.  
"Fury, did say you were...very well trained." He said as a sad attempt to destress the situation.  
"Is Fury the one who sent the team into remove me from Red Room?" I kept my facial expression clear and stared at the spot where the two elevator doors met.  
"Ah, yes. He is the whole mastermind behind this operation. The S.H.I.E.L.D. Agency, or thats what we plan on naming it. You'll be meeting him in due time." Mr. Stark placed my bag down as we reached the penthouse floor. The doors slowly slid open and there standing in front of the exit was a miniature Stark. "Tony, this is Natasha Romanoff." The boy was about seventeen, only a few months older than I, and looked like an exact replica of his father, including his own growing moustache. He smiled widely at me and grabbed my bag off of the floor.  
"I'm Tony Stark, future billionaire, playboy, philanthropist. Current genius." He seemed very happy and full of himself as he held out his hand. I used the one that wasn't on my gun and shook it.  
"Natasha Romanoff." I spoke crisp and clear, yet my Russian accent wouldn't disappear. He smiled and kept my hand, tugging on it like a small child.  
"Tony will take you from here. I have to go have a conversation with Fury on your arrival. You'll meet the rest of the team and then Fury himself." Mr. Stark smiled as I stepped out of the cart with my gaze straight ahead. Tony lead me down a hallway into a large common room. It held three grey sofas, two recliners, a large flat screen t.v. and a circular table in the center, littered with wrappers and magazines.  
"This is the living room for the team and now yourself." He said raising his arms, speaking as if motioning to a fine piece of art. "Sorry bout the mess, the other guys are a bit of a slob. Oh you'll be the first girl to join our little bunch of misfits" Tony smiled with a gleam in his eyes I couldn't quite place. "Anyways, back to the grand tour." He motioned to the three hallways branching off from the living room. "Each hallway has six rooms, master suites of course." Pointing to the far right hallway, he spoke "Home of the Captain, the angry green bean, and now yourself" Pointing the the one in the middle, "Home of bird man and demi god dude." Pointing to the farthest hallway, "Home of yours truly. Now your room is the one right next to the Captains, can't miss it. It's all red, white and blue. Just go through your stuff down, do whatever you girls do and I'll round up the crew." He smiled and handed my bag to me. I took it with a curt nod. "Welcome to the family Nat." Running down the hallway, he beat on the doors of who he called bird man and demi god dude. I placed my bag on my shoulder and headed down the hallway which would lead to my new residence. Tony was right, the Captains door was smothered in the countries color. Walking past it, I placed my hand on the doorknob of my room. I opened it and walked inside, seeing a simple bed, dresser, television, and door which I assumed led to a bathroom. I closed the door and placed my bag on the bed, sitting down next to it. Unzipping my bag, I removed an extra knife and slipped it inside my thigh holster, before standing up. Zipping my bag and turning to face the door, I took a deep breath, placed my hand on my knob and awaited my new fate.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Natasha meets the rest of the gang.

I opened the door slowly, not wanting to meet anyone unexpectedly. I scanned the halls and saw no trace of “Captain” or the “angry green bean.” I stepped out and quietly shut the door behind me. Sliding my hands down my black skinny jeans, I felt the reassuring outline of my knife and the coolness of my pistol. Straightening my back, I made my way down the dark hallway. As soon as I saw the light of the living room, I heard the noise as well. 

“Tony, it’s three in the morning. What the hell is so important?” A voice said, thick with sleep, yet one I noticed immediately. I stood right in the entrance and saw who the voice belonged to. He noticed me first and smiled, “Long time no see eh, Widow?” Clint smirked as I walked the rest of the way into the room. Eyes focused only on him, I replied,

“It’s been a long time since Budapest.” Tony stepped into the way of my gaze and grinned. 

“I see you’ve already know Blue Birdie.” He said gripping Clint’s shoulder, receiving a sharp Clint like glare. While he was talking, I moved my gaze and noticed the rest of the team. Like Tony had mentioned before hand, it was all men, well guys. “Here’s the rest of the team.” Letting go of Clint’s shoulder, he hopped up onto the table and motioned to each of the members, who were sitting down on the couch with their jaws dropped open. Pointing to a very tall man with dark brown curly hair and glasses, "This is the angry green bean, a.k.a the Hulk, a.k.a Bruce Banner." The new named angry green bean gave me a smile and stood up.

"It's a pleasure to meet you finally Miss. Romanoff. Mr. Stark has told us all about you.” He pushed back his glasses and extended his hand. I shook it.

"I can't believe I can say the same for you." I said, giving a polite smile. He chuckled and spoke again,

"Oh and don't make me angry. You won't like me when I'm angry." The rest of the boys let out chuckles as I nodded politely, understanding the effects of his father's trials of the gamma radiation upon him. He sat back down next to a startlingly, to put to bluntly, buff teenager with biceps about the size of my head.

"This is the demi-god with daddy issues, Thor". Thor had about shoulder length dirty blonde hair, was rather fit and was dressed as if he was a prince from a far away land, I was pretty close. 

"It's a pleasure to meet you." He said with a stunning British accent. "Maybe they'll start making fun of your accent and not mine." He gave me a large smile, including sparkling white teeth.

"I doubt that for some reason." I smirked back. Now he might be of some fun I thought. 

"We don't make fun of such pretty ladies no matter how they talk," A voice with a subtle hint of a New York accent spoke up and I turned my head to be met with the most startling shade of blue I've ever seen.

"Yeah, yeah. We all get it your the world's largest gentlemen's, Cap. Oh this is the Captain, Captain America, a.k.a Steve Rodgers." Tony introduced hopping off of the table as the Captain stood up. He was tall as well, but an average tall. He has light brown hair that was short and combed neatly. With his broad shoulders and absolutely amazing grin, he was going to be a challenge. 

"Steve Rodgers, at your service ma'am." He extended his hand, and I look it. He gently placed a kiss on it. I was, to put it simply, awestruck. 

"Pleasure to meet you too, Captain." I said, taking my hand back from his. He gave me a smile.

"Please call me Steve." Before we could go any further, Tony let out a half gag, half cough.

"And last but not least. Mwa!" Tony said, as I turned, seeing his outstretched arms, towards the rest of the group. "Tony Stark, but as everyone knows me as Iron Man!"

"May I ask, what is with the nicknames? Are you all superheros or something?" I asked jokingly, yet they all nodded in agreement. "You're all super heroes..." I said in unbelief. 

"Yes aren't you?" Bruce asked, as I shrugged. "Why else would Fury bring you here?" 

"She's a good person that's been trained under terrible circumstances." Clint butt in protectively, with his arms crossed against his chest. "Tony's father's organization rescued her from terrible people called Red Room. She deserves to be here more than anyone of us." I stood up taller as everyone's eyes turned to me, then to Tony to resolve the tension.

"Well you'll need a name them if you're joining our group of misfits. Russian Ninja? Flame?" Tony said, jokingly. I frowned along with Hawkeye at the ideas.

"My name is Black Widow." I said, defiantly as a silence filled the room and all eyes turned to me.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Natasha learns more about the Avenger's boy band.

The silence was broken by a sharp clap and my hand flew to my pistol. Clint’s hand shot back behind his back to grab an arrow that wasn’t there. Tony grinned deviously and put his hands down, still encasing each other.

“It’s male bonding time!” He said, excitedly, as a collective groan was let out around the room. “Well now male and Natasha bonding time”

“What is this...male bonding time?” I looked at Clint for an answer, but before his mouth even opened, Captain, excuse me Steve, answered for him.

“Its where we all sit together and the new person, you, gets to ask questions about all of us. Then the roles switch and its our turn to ask you.” He said, “Well, not anything you’re not comfortable with.” He added, I assumed to be reassuring. I also assumed that I just imagined the menacing glare I saw Clint give him.

“You can blame Tony for this” Bruce said, stretching his legs out on the table, while Tony held his hands up in defense.

“It’s not entirely not my fault. I kinda sorta forgot to tell Thor, when he first moved in, as the first member of the team, that I sort of sleepwalk. I happened to somehow wind up in his room in the middle of the night, standing over his bed. He woke up and punched me in the face, no big deal. I mean it’s his fault who doesn’t lock his door?” He said sheepishly, it was rather funny. 

“A demi-god prince, who is used to having an entire wing of an empire to himself.” The prince said from his lounging position on the couch. “Although I must admit, Tony, your screams were very funny, they sounded much like a young females.” The room erupted in laughs, especially the loud chortle of the demi-god himself. I swear I could’ve saw Tony blush.

“Anyways since then on my father decided that we actually have to know each other before sharing a house.” He walked over and patted the spot on the couch that was directly in front of the table. “Take a seat, Nat. We might be here awhile.” I walked over and sat down on the middle cushion. Tony took the spot next Bruce and crossed his legs on top of his, but angling to face me. Thor stretched out across the couch, and Captain sat next to me. I managed to catch a glimpse of Clint make his way up into one of the rafters, his current “nest”.

“What’s your first question, ma’am?” I turned to see Steve smiling at me, his slight New York accent prevailing.

“Where did you all get your names from?” I asked, my Russian accent slowly beginning to fade away.

“Thor is my name.” The god said, speaking with a light heartedness I was still adjusting to.

“I turn into a great angry green monster when I get upset or deal with any heavy emotions, and smash things.” Bruce said, with a subtle tone of sadness in his tone. Tony snuck him a quick glance before turning back to me.

“I wear a suit of metal and fly around, shooting lasers out of my hands. You know the stuff chicks dig” He smirked and leaned back into the couch. I turned to face Steve, and he was looking down at his hands as he spoke.

“That’s the name I was given by the United States Military.” He said with the same tone of sadness as Bruce, but there was an edge of regret and loss that was faint, but still there. I decided not to push the subject, well not until later. 

“Ages?” I asked.

“Eighteen.” Captain, Tony and a voice said from up above and I looked up just in time to see Hawkeye jump down from his nest and land on the couch next to me.

“Nineteen” Bruce said as I turned to look at Thor, expecting to hear twenty, maybe twenty two.

“I am one hundred and seven on your earth’s date of the twenty third of January.” He spoke out, covering his eyes with his hand, going back to sleep I expect. “I have no more questions.” I pulled my legs up onto the couch with me.

“How much have you missed me since Budapest?” Clint asked, as I turned my head to see him grinning.

“Very much so, it’s been unbearable.” I said, jokingly as he scooted closer and grabbed my knee. 

“Your age?” Bruce asked. I was about to answer before the Captain cut in,

“It’s not polite to ask a lady her age, Banner.” He said, annoying me slightly.

“She can speak for herself, Cap.” Clint said, eying Captain from across the   
couch and I swear they were locked in a glaring match.

“I’m seventeen, atleast I think I am.” I said, looking down at my hands and Clint gripped my knee a bit tighter. 

“What d-” Bruce started to ask, but Clint cut him off with a death glare. 

“So why are you called the Black Widow?” Tony asked, as a snore erupted from the now sleeping Thor.

“When I was little my parents were killed and I was inducted into the Black Widow Ops, Red Room facility by my surrogate father. My name was hidden and I was given the cover of Black Widow, while under cover and committing operations for Red Room. After Mr. Stark helped me escape Red Room, I kept the name.” I said, brushing my curly red hair back from in front of my face. Tony nodded in what I believe to be respect and I nodded back.

“What is your relation to Clint?” Steve asked, with a strange edge in his voice.

“We fought together on many occasions when I went undercover as a Western agent, and we’ve known each other for multiple years. He’s my partner.” I spoke, my Russian accent fading into the background, almost completely gone. Hawkeye smiled at me and a ghost of a smile played on my lips.

“So you’re a master assassin, like Hawkeye?” Bruce asked, sitting up a bit straighter.

“I’m much better at what I do then Birdie here.” I said, earning a few happy grins from around the room and a chuckle from Clint.

“Well you can prove it tomorrow, well I mean today.” Tony said checking his watch, “It’s 3:26, off to bed everyone. We start training with our new member tomorrow.” He stood up and stretched, looking over at the roaring demi-god on the couch. “It’s your turn to wake him up, Sheild boy.” I stood and Clint and Steve both stood at the same time. Clint kept a straight face as Tony, and Bruce all headed to bed and Steve went to go wake Thor. Quickly, he pulled me into a tight hug, and I managed to get my arms out before he pinned them to my side. I hugged him back and placed my head on his chest.

“Welcome to the family, Nat. I’ve missed you.” He whispered into my ear, then quickly let go as we heard Thor groan and arise from the coach. Clint headed to bed, slapping Thor on the back as they went their separate ways. I turned to head to my room, but I was stopped by those brilliant blue eyes. 

“Goodnight Miss. Romanoff.” He said, extending his hand. I took it and he gently kissed it. “Sweet dreams.” He let go of my hand and headed to his room. I couldn’t help but watch his back as he walked to his room. I sighed and followed after as soon as I heard the door click shut. Opening the door to my room, I snuck a glance at Captain's door. I walked in and shut the door behind me. Moving my bag onto the floor, I laid down on the bed, removing my knife from it’s holster. Laying it underneath my pillow, I closed my eyes and tried to get some sleep before my first day began of what I was trained to destroy.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nat and Clint have a moment

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! So this is just a little chapter between Nat and Clint, I thought it just needed to be here so here it is

I was already awake when there was a sharp rap at the door. Standing up, I stretched and nearly tripped over my duffel bag as I made my way to the door. Opening it, I rubbed my eyes and was met with the vision of a shirtless Clint. 

“Good morning sleeping beauty,” He smirked and I gave him a sleepy smile.

“Morning, Birdie,” I said, running a hand through my hair, hitting a few snags along the way.

“Can I come in?” He asked, placing his hand on the door, acting as if he was peering inside.

“When have you had any trouble with breaking and entering before hand?” I joked as I shut the door behind him, as he walked in.

“Since I was requested for this job,” He said, taking a seat on my bed and tried to fix his bedhead. Sitting down next to him, I hit his hand away and fixed his hair. “Thanks.” He mumbled.

“Then why did you join here then?” I let my smile turn into a slight frown and tucked my feet under my legs. Clint was not one to settle down, or much less be settled down by anyone.

“I knew that you needed help getting out of Red Room and they promised to help get you out safely if I joined and became a member of this division.” He lifted my arm as if inspecting it. “Not even a scratch. S.H.I.E.L.D knows what they’re doing.” He said putting my arm down and picking up my duffel bag.

“What’s S.H.I.E.L.D stand for anyways?” I asked as he carefully pulled out my Widow Bites from my bag.

“It stands for Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement Logistics Department. We’re just a small part, Nat. It’s about the size of the Blacks Widow Operations, maybe even bigger,” He said, placing the bracelets down on the bed gently.

“So how’s it been selling your soul for me, Clint?” I asked, earning a small smile. “What’s everyone really like?” Tucking my feet beneath my legs, I looked towards him. 

“Tony’s well, Tony. Egotistic on the best of days, but he keeps his priorities straight. Him and his father are really close since his mom isn’t in the picture. He’s just a little….out there.” He explained taking out my combat suit and tossed it at me. I caught it and folded it.

“Are him and Bruce...together?” I asked, the image of their legs overcrossed flooding into my mind. 

“Don’t know, don’t care.” He said, keeping his head down in my bag. “They let you keep all of these?” He asked, holding two military grade knives and my two favorite pistols.

“They mentioned nothing to me. Do you honestly think that I would let them take me without my stash? Do they have your bow and arrows?” I asked in disbelief that Clint would give up his most prized positions just to get me back. 

“When I first got here they did, took three guards.” Clint grinned proudly. “They took everyone's weapons. My arrows, Captain's shield. They even locked Bruce up in a metal box for a few days and took blood and ran tests on him. And that was a big mistake.”

“Maybe they were scared of your insane protectiveness.” I smirked and he gave me a signature smile.

“So onto Bruce, he’s not that bad of a guy. Incredibly smart, he and Mr. Stark spend a lot of time down in the labs, working on research with gamma radiation. It’s just whenever the big guy comes out, he doesn’t remember anyone or anything about himself. Be careful around him.” He stared directly at me, until I nodded.

“Thor is a bit out of it. He’s not exactly used to Earth’s culture and customs. When he first got here and Tony had his pet goldfish out, Thor asked if he had one big enough to ride” He chuckled and place my bag down.

“What about Captain?” I asked honestly curious about the blue eyed man. 

“Just watch out for him, I got a weird feelings from him,” Clint said, his tone dropping. I mutely nodded as he leaned in and kissed my forehead. “Keep your wits, Natasha.” He said, the same line he said everytime we went out on a mission that we knew would be dangerous. He stood up and placed his hand on my check. “Just get changed and met us in the common room.” I nodded once again, not daring to speak as he opened the door and shut it just in time to let me hear Captain's door open.


	5. Chapter 5

I gently folded my combat suit and placed it on my bed. Placing my bag next to my suit, I walked over and opened the door which led to the bathroom. There was a large walk in shower, a clawfoot tub, a toilet, and two sinks. Sliding the pale blue curtain back, I was my favorite shampoo and soap. I smiled slightly as I ran the water, knowing that Clint had picked them out. Stripping down, I stepped into the steaming water and showered quickly. Wrapping myself in a fluffy towel, a luxury I wasn’t used to, and grabbing my dirty clothes, I headed back into the bedroom, closing the bathroom door behind me. I held up my combat suit, seeing all the slight tears and patches that was basically unseen to everyone else, I allowed a ghost of a smile to cross my lips as I remembered the relevance of each rip and tear. Slipping into it, I zipped myself up and adjusted to skin tight fabric. I picked up my Windows Bites and slipped them onto my wrists with a satisfying click, shaking my wrists out and getting once again adjusted to their weight. Weighing my pistols and checking the clips, I put them into their holsters along with my knives. I dried my hair quickly with the towel, before throwing it in a basic in a nearby basket along with my other clothes. My hair fell in red loose ringlets as I knelt down and began to lace up my lightweight combat boots as there was knock at my door. Finishing lacing them up, I stood and opened the door to see Steve standing there in, what I assumed to be, his costume. Like his door suggested, he was very patriotic, his suit red, white and blue. He held a shield, which was also red, white and blue, with a white star in the middle. 

“Are you ready to head to the training room, ma’am?” He asked, scanning me quickly with his eyes as I crossed my arms against my chest, the Bites clinking. His eyes went quickly back up to my eyes and gave a small smile, as if looking anywhere but my eyes was forbidden. 

“Yes,” I said, stepping towards him, causing him to step back. “Is that your weapon?” I asked, closing the door behind me and motioned towards his shield. He placed a hand on the small of my back and lead me towards the living room, smiling at me. 

“Just wait until we begin training, miss.” He said, dropping his hand as soon as we reached the room and we were in Clint’s range of vision. Tony and Bruce were chatting away with each other, standing next to the elevator. Thor was tapping the side of a fishbowl which held a, probably very scared, goldfish. Clint hopped down from his nest and cleared his throat to get the attention of the two scientists. 

“Took you lovebirds long enough,” Tony smirked as he pressed the button to call the elevator and gave Steve and myself a knowing look. He turned back to Bruce and they fell back into the pattern of their conversation. Turning to check Steve, his face was a red brighter than that on his suit. Between the ding of the elevator and the tap on my shoulder, I spun around and held my wrists out at Steve. He turned a deathly pale color and placed his hands up in defense. “Oooo, lovers quarrel,” Tony said, stepping into the elevator and held his hand out so the door wouldn't close. Dropping my wrists, I gave Steve a apologetic smile and he slowly put his hands down. 

“Yes, Tony. With venomous darts.” Clint said, stepping into the elevator as his retort fell on deaf ears. I walked into the elevator along with Steve and Thor as Tony moved his hand away and the door sealed closed. 

“Is it normal for most people to carry around venomous darts?” Thor asked, eyeing my wrists.

“I’m a highly trained assassin, I’m not like most normal people.” I said, giving him a smirk and receiving a large grin. 

“What’s with the hammer?” I asked, following the cord around his wrist to a large silver hammer, that was about the size of his head. 

“It was given to me by my father when I became king, it contains a most magnificent power.” He said proudly, weighing it in both of his hands, before dropping it and letting it sway by his side. The elevator came to a stop and the doors slid open, revealing a large room. It was all glass on three sides and was incredibly huge. Stepping out, the mats were all padded and there were all the training equipment one would ever need. There were racks upon racks of knifes and all types of guns. Rows upon rows of workout equipment. Stacks of weights and three ropes hanging from the ceiling. There was even a juice bar to the far back wall. 

“There are one of these on every floor,” Tony said, opening his arms open and walking backwards until he reached the middle of the room. I noticed that him, Bruce and Thor were all wearing the same workout uniform. Black pants and a grey v-neck t-shirt with and symbol of what I assumed to be an eagle on the right sleeve. Clint was wearing his uniform, black pants, a little bit higher ankle boots and a vest with shoulder pads. I walked over to a rack of knives and picked up a small one, maybe two inches, and noticed the same marking. “As the newest member,” He started, as if beginning a speech, as the others took a seat at the juice bar, we need to test your abilities.” He motioned to the punching bags and I walked over, my feet sinking into the mats. “Strength, accuracy and endurance. Give it a hit.” He said as a clenched my hand into a fist. Pulling my arm back, I socked the bag right in the center, sending it rocking back. “She beat your record Clint. Point one for Widow, zero for Birdie.” He said, as if Clint and I were in a competition. I saw Clint roll his eyes and prop his feet up on the bar, as Captain leaned in as if he was interested. Tony lead me to a target board, “You’ve got three shots,” I slipped my two knives out of their holsters and threw them both at once, hitting the bullseye head on. Reaching behind my back, I grabbed a small knife from my back holster and hearing a cough, I instinctively threw the knife in that direction. I turned quickly to see what damage I had done and noticed a small crack in the glass and a petrified Steve. 

“I’m sorry Nat, but you are the worst flirt I have ever seen,” Bruce said, looking over the top of his book to see the Captain.

“Sorry,” I called out to Cap as he waved his hand at me as if it was nothing. Tony was lying on the floor, laughing so hard, I thought he might start bursting at the seams. Within five minutes, he was standing and wiping the tears from his eyes and I couldn’t help but let out a small chuckle. 

“Onto endurance,” He said walking over to the treadmill with me following. “Now try not to throw this at anyone or something like that.” He grinned happily and pressed a few buttons on the machine. “Up you go,” I stepped on as the floor began to move and I walked to keep up with it. He increased the speed, then stopped. “Go as long as you can,” Tony said, going to sit next to Bruce. At the forty minute mark, my face was covered in a thin sheen of sweat and my side was beginning to get a stitch. Tony walked over and stopped the machine, I jumped off with slightly trembling legs. “Time for the real training. Who do you want to start off with first?” He asked.

“Come on Captain.” I said, jutting my hip out and smirking. “Let’s see what that shield can do.” He stood up and walked towards me as the elevator reached our floor, and everyone's eyes turned to see who stepped out when the door opened.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nat get's her first mission with a certain blue eyed patriot

I kept a sharp gaze on the man that exited the elevator. He was tall, and wore a heavy black trench coat.The most startling aspect of the man's appearance was the black eyepatch that hid his left eye and cut into his hairless head. 

“So this is our newest addition? I’m sorry I couldn’t meet you when you first arrived. Settling in well I assume? Everyone playing nice?” He asked, his military boots hitting the mats with dull thuds as he approached me. Filling the instinct of a higher commander addressing me, my hands snapped to my sides and my posture straightened.

“Yes, sir,” I stated as I heard chairs scraping on the floor and the fall of increasingly close footsteps approaching me. “You’re the man in charge that sent the team in to extract me? Nick Fury, am I correct sir?” I asked, watching as Clint took his normal spot on my left and Captain standing awfully close on my right. Unclenching my right hand I didn’t even know I had clenched, I offered it out to him, crossing the space between us. 

“That would be me, Miss. Romanoff,” He stuck out his hand to meet mine and we shook with a firm handshake. Sliding my hand back in it’s position, I assumed he noticed my tense posture due to his next comment, “At ease, ma’am,” He commanded, as my muscles relaxed, my arms fell behind my back, my wrists falling on top of each other. “Between your fighting technique I’ve heard about and your attention to authority, I may have a position for you on my person defense.” He smiled at me and I gave one in return. “Now before you all begin your training session and Romanoff here proceeds to kick all of your asses,” Nick said with an obvious smirk in his tone and earning himself an identical snort from both Thor and Hawkeye. “I must see Captain and Romanoff in private,” He said, nodding in my direction.

“You better watch out. Nat, here, has a dangerous way of flirting with the Capsicle here,” Tony butted in as I turned to face him. On his face there was the smuggest grin I had ever seen as he tried to sneak his way past Bruce, who was luckily blocking Tony from walking towards us. Hawkeye glared at him, Capt turned a strange shade of red and Thor let out an extremely loud chortle, which I was still not completely used to as I jumped. Nick went the pressed the button to call the elevator and Captain placed his hand on the small of my back. As the door opened and Steve lead me to the entrance, Clint began following us. When we entered, Fury held his hand out and it was centimeters away from Clint’s chest.

“Your presence isn’t required Clint. The task at hand only needs these two, now go practice your aim or something.” He said as Clint shot a glance at me, his posture tensing from the close contact. I gave him a curt nod as Nick moved his hand and the doors slid shut. The elevator ride was short and silent. Captain had removed his hand from my back to place it on my shoulder, pulling me in closer to him. It wasn’t completely totally uncomfortable and I could see myself getting used to it. Giving my shoulder a quick squeeze, he shot me a quick smile. Trying to reassure me or himself, I wasn’t sure, so I gave him a small smile and a quick nod just to be safe. The elevator came to a slow stop and the doors slid open silently, Fury walking out with his black, leather trenchcoat flowing out behind him. Next was Steve, dragging me along, keeping me tucked securely underneath his arm and close to him. We had only went down seven or eight floors but the entire atmosphere had changed. The room we were in now seemed to be a type of command room for S.H.I.E.L.D. There were agents constantly running around the room, handing eachother files and messing with technology I couldn’t quite identify. A few people nodded at Captain as if he was actually a military commander and everyone just stared at me. I held my head higher as Steve escorted me to the center of the large and crowded room. There was a large table in which was covered with stacks of papers and maps marked with different flags and stamps. When we reached the table, both Capt and I leaned forwards on our hands and began scanning over the multiple papers and maps. Shooting a quick glance at him, I noticed that he was looking intently at a map of Europe but I couldn’t exactly pinpoint where. Fury cleared this throat and both of our heads snapped up quickly as he was standing up on a platform in front of the table. 

“Now I haven’t called you both in here to stare at the world. We have an assignment for you both.” I stood up straight and crossed my arms against my chest. “This will be your first assignment for us Miss. Romanoff and we will be expecting you to show your best, prove your worth so to speak. Captain,” He started to speak as the Captain rose. His startling blue eyes locking onto mine for just a brief moment before turning up to look at Fury. “This might be of some interest to you.” Nick said, pushing a button on the wall next to him as a projector slowly made it’s decent.”I want everyone with lower than a level six clearance to scram.” As soon as the words passed his lips there were papers shuffled, chairs pushed in, and the elevators being called. After he did a thorough sweep of the room, Nick continued, “We have sent a mole into a section of S.H.I.E.L.D that also works with MI6.” Once the screen had made it’s descent, he grabbed a remote controler and pressed the button. The lights dimmed and an image popped up on the screen as all motion around us ceased. It was a large building in the middle of a suburban city, which I assumed to be the headquarters of MI6. “From his leaks, we have confirmed that S.H.I.E.L.D has been compromised.” There were immediate gasps and murmurs from behind me. I could almost feel the piercing glares on my back. Captain turned around and probably gave a silencing glare as the noise stopped. I couldn’t blame them all. A new mystery girl appears with no warning, she’s been taken from what they’ve deemed the enemy to Western civilization. “Now, we’ve lost contact with our mole just hours after we received the news that our section had been compromised. The assumed agency is Hydra,” Nick’s eyes locked on Captain as my eyes shot over to look as him as well as I saw him tense and grip the side of the table tightly. I had heard of them, they were a group made up during the second World War, growing alongside Hitler and the Nazi’s to gain members. Slowly, I placed my hand on his forearm and he glanced over at me. Giving him a small nod as our eyes locked, he nodded back and placed his free hand over mine. Hearing a clearing of a throat, my eyes snapped back to Fury and I snatched my hand back on reflex. “We need another team to go in and see what exactly is going on, and what happened,” He said, pressing the button on the controller once again and a case file popped up on the screen. “I’ve discussed it with the council and we’re sending you two in. Now Captain I want a clear understanding of all emotional ties cut, are we understood? I had to go through hell to get you assigned to this case. Now don’t screw it up, have I made myself clear soldier?” Steve nodded, as he seemed to relax a bit, taking in fully the task at hand.

“What will be our cover, sir? We can’t just walk into MI6 and blend in, we’ll stick out like sore thumbs,” He said, leaning over on the table once again his eyes scanning over huge stacks of paper.

“Miss. Romanoff can change her accent isn’t that right?” Nick said, turning to me. I nodded, 

“All I need is five minutes,” I spoke, my American accent crisp and clear, a bit of New York sneaking in, I assumed due to the Captain. Steve looked up at me from the papers,

“Ma’am, what happened to your accent?” He looked, confused.

“Red Room did multiple experiments on me and the other members, genetical, mental and physical. They developed a way to rewire the vocal cords so that whatever accent the brain heard the a certain accent in a voice, the cords would then emit. It was a technique used to better spy and fit in with enemy territory.” I received a nod from Nick as he took out two thick files from out of the shelf under the screen. Tossing them to both of us, I caught mine as Steve let his fall onto the table. “This is our assignment? All passports, I.D’s included?” I asked flipping through the file, turning on my original functioning.

“You both leave tomorrow evening at 22:00,” He said, pressing the button and the screen went back up and the image disappeared, I never actually looked at it. “We’ll have your weapons assigned to you so report to the armory at 16:00. Everything that you need to know is in those files.” The screen returned back to its starting position with a click and the light turned back on. Noise and motion began to fill the room once again. Captain picked up his file and tucked it under his arm as he turned to head towards the elevator. As I went to follow him, Nick stepped out in front of me, blocking my path. “Rodgers has a deep connection on this case and that’s why I’m sending you along with him, Romanoff. Keep him from doing anything too stupid. This is also your first case with us at S.H.I.E.L.D., the board will be watching your every action so try not to mess up.” He clapped his hand on my back and walked with me to the elevator, where Capt was standing impatiently. I walked in and turned around as Nick stood in front of us. “I won’t be able to see both of you off tomorrow, so good luck,” He said as Captain saluted him and I stood in place. Nick nodded his head as Steve’s hand fell and the doors slid shut.


	7. Chapter 7

Instead of going back to the gym, Captain jabbed the penthouse button and we began our ascent to our living quarters.The ride was silent and awkward as the only noise emitted was the quiet hum of the elevator. When the ride was over and the doors began to slide open, he was already running out before they had finished their journey. Tucking the file underneath my arm more securely, I walked out of the elevator and scanned the room for anyone. It was empty. I headed towards my room and noticed that the door had been left cracked. Remembering that I had made sure to shut my door that morning, my hand went out to the knob and slowly pushed it open. Sitting on my bed was a sleeping Hawkeye. Well I assumed him to be sleeping. I walked into the room and closed the door shut almost silently. He shot up with his loaded bow pointed at me and my hands went up in defense. 

“Good morning, Sleeping Beauty,” I smirked as he put down his bow and slipped the arrow back into it’s sheath. 

“Everyone got tired of waiting,” He said, laying out on my bed once again and tucking his hands behind his head. I dropped my file on his stomach and laid down next to him. Letting out a slight groan he sat up with his back against the wall. I stretched out and laid my hands on my stomach. “All scattered. I thought I’d wait here and surprise you, what’s this?”

“My assignment. With Steve.” I kept my eyes on a spot on the ceiling as I heard papers being ruffled and placed ontop of me. 

“They’re sending you with shield boy? Why not with me? It is your first mission for S.H.I.E.L.D. and I’m your best match, of course,” He said, taking out a thicker sheet of paper and scanning over it.

“Apparently he has some personal ties with the group. That should’ve dropped any connection with the mission. I don’t want my first mission to go up in flames because of some emotional mishap,” I said, picking up the papers on my stomach that spelled out the aliases that we would be using. I wouldn’t be changing, I’ve worked with MI6 before while planning my escape from Red Room. Steve would now be Chris Downey Jr., an American that was recruited by MI6 in a new division for starting assassins and murders at a younger age. I would be the one stuck showing him around and making sure he didn’t go crazy, which apparently most people do whenever they’re trained to kill at only sixteen. Flipping the paper over onto the back, it showed that physical attributes of the Captains new identity. He would be going blonde. Actual blond, not his dark dirty blond, but straight up beach blond. They would be fitting him with brown colored contacts, so good bye to the heart stopping blue. I didn’t bother to being reading his back history, it was three pages long. I folded the papers and tossed them over to Clint who was sorting through a massive stack of papers.

“So it seems you two will be assumed to be gone for at least three days at most two weeks. It seems all S.H.I.E.L.D wants is a quick extraction mission; in and out. They should’ve sent me with you instead of the Capsicle. The group’s name is Hydra, which I’m guessing you already know. I’ve only heard him talk about it once or twice when he was talking to Fury,” He said, setting the papers down.

“I’m guessing you weren’t supposed to hear these conversations?” I asked as I flipped over onto my stomach with my chin on his leg. He raised his eyebrow at me and smirked.   
“I was in my nest.Technically they were in my space. Anyways,” Clint said, sorting through a few more papers and putting a few on top of my head for safe keeping I assumed. When it was must me and the Bird, he always let out a new side of them that no one really ever saw. Beneath the whole attack now, ask questions later, he was pretty much a normal teenager. Well as normal as a teenager that has been trained as an assassin and put a program to fight evil. “It seems that they think that Hydra had infiltrated only that division of S.H.I.E.L.D. and they want to get it out so it doesn’t infect the rest of the organization.” He finished, taking the rest of the papers off of my head and picked up those that were scattered across the bed. Stacking him back into the files, he slid down to position himself next to me as I flipped back onto my back. “I still think they should have sent me with you, I mean you just got here and they just decide to send you off with some guy you’ve never even trained with,” He said, as I felt the vibrations from his voice next to me. Keeping my eyes on the ceiling, I answered,

“That’s my cover. To act like I don’t even know him, just showing him around for the first time, then I poof.” I said, bringing up my hands quickly then dropping them for effect. “Then I go to work,” Managing to look over at him, I gave a smirk and he smiled.

“You are the best at what you do,” He said as he turned his head back and stared at the ceiling. I plucked up his hand and plopped it onto my stomach, fiddling with it as I stared at the same spot on the ceiling. We sat like this for a good while before his hand out of no where grabbed mine and I jumped up. He let out a loud chuckle, which was rare for him. I couldn’t help but let out a small smile at him while my hair fell into my face. “How about we go for some target practice? Before I send you anywhere with a guy that wears tights, I’m making sure you can cover his ass,” He stood up as I brushed my hair back and stood with him.

“He can cover his own ass,” I smirk receiving an arm around my shoulder from Clint as he opened my door for me.

“That’s my girl,” He said as we made our way to the elevator.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nat and Steve have a moment and enjoy the sunrise

I plunked myself down on my bed and wiped my sweat drenched hair out of my face. Eight hours of practice and my muscles felt tense and strained. Kicking off my boots with my feet, I stretched out my legs with a sharp pop from my ankle. Standing up, I slightly winced and padded into the the bathroom. Literally having to peel my suit off of me, I tossed it onto the floor and turned on the water to fill up the claw foot tub. I grabbed the body wash from the shower and poured about a half of it into the tub, until it was a lovely soapy mess. Turning off the water, I slipped into the almost scalding water and felt my muscles almost cry out in relief. Letting out a long sigh, I slipped underneath the water and the foam. I slipped back up, just in time to hear a knock at my door as I wiped the soap from my face.

“Come in,” I called out, as I checked to make sure the .45 I strapped to the wall facing side of the tub was still there. Hearing the door close, I slid my hand down the side and grabbed the gun without unstrapping it. Walking in was a very smiley Tony.

“Ello love!” He said with the most horrible British accent I have ever heard. “My dad told me all about the mission you and the Capsicle are going on. Sounds exciting.” He said, walking over to me and sitting on the rim of the tub. Noticing he was holding a bag, I tried to maneuver to see it over the edge, but he moved it away. “Oh, this is nothing. Just some clothes we thought you might need until you leave tomorrow so you’d have something else to wear besides that suit that looks like it’s painted on.” He nudged the bag with his foot to where my suit was thrown down on the floor. “I hope you like them,” He stood up and headed to walk out, but turned around before he managed to reach the door, “Though I would keep the suit. Cap can’t keep his eyes off you in it,” Tony gave me an exaggerated wink before almost running out the door and I slid once again under the water, right after I heard the door shut. I stayed in the water until it began to get cold and managed to drag myself out of the tub. Grabbing a towel from off of a rack and nudging the bag and suit along into the bedroom, I closed the door behind me and sat down on the edge of the bed. I threw my dirty suit into a basket by the door, after I grabbed my two knives from the hidden pocket on the inside sem. Untying the bag, I pulled out a t-shirt that held the emblem of Captain America himself. His shield staring brightly at me in the middle of the otherwise black t-shirt. I folded it carefully and threw it onto the bed. Next was a pair of pants that were literally covered in pictures of Iron Man himself in the armor and everything. Going through the rest of the clothes, it turned out it was all merchandise for all the heroes of our part of S.H.I.E.L.D.. Include four pairs of socks, one for everyone.Well everyone except for Clint. I rummaged through it and managed to find something that wasn’t totally insane. The Captain America ultimate fan set. The shield shirt that was at the top of the pile and a pair of very baggy, probably guy’s, black sweatpants with Captain American written down my left leg in red, white and blue. I tossed the rest of the clothes into the top two drawers of the dresser. Crawling in bed, I stretched out on the bed and rested my hand on top of my stomach. I heard it growl but as I went to move, my muscles groaned in protest. 

“Fine then,” I murmured as I moved back into bed and laid up against the wall. My eyes shut slowly and the darkness of sleep hit me like a brick wall. 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I woke up slowly and groggily, rubbing my eyes as my stomach groaned in hunger. Swinging my legs over the side of the bed, I stretched backwards and stood up. I slipped on the pair of Iron Man socks from the top left drawer and opened the door. Closing it gently behind me, I silently made my way down the hallway. I stopped at the end of the hallway, hearing whistling from the main room. The smell of bacon flooded my nose as my stomach let out a silent groan as I realized that I had to weapon on me. My stomach let out a loud noise and the whistling stopped as I took a slight step back. I heard footsteps approach me and I took a step forward, meeting in the middle with Captain. He was holding a spatula with a death grip as I realized he was unarmed and without his shield. 

“Oh, good morning miss,” He said, putting down the deadly cookware. “Are you hungry?” He asked, motioning with his head at the kitchen that was in the back of the common room, that I never noticed.

“Oh sure.” I said, following him as he walked back into the kitchen and I took a seat on the other side of the island. “What are you doing up?” I asked as I picked up a green apple and spun it within my fingers. 

“I can never sleep the night before a mission, you?” He asked, his back to me.

“Hungry. I was going to get something to eat after training but I was too sore to move,” I said, as I moved my aching leg to unstiffen it.

“Ah yes. Is it normal for Clint to practice so long? He never works with us, mostly just sits in his nest and shoots down at us sometimes for target practice.” He said, chuckling, his back moving underneath his tight fitting t-shirt.

“We’ve gone for fourteen hours before, I’m never doing that again.” I said, smiling as he turned around to look at me. Looking at me with surprise, he placed the spatula down and crossed his arms against his chest.

“Fourteen hours? No wonder you’re hungry. I would’ve cooked you something before you went to bed if you wished,” Steve said, a light red bursting on his cheeks.

“That sounds nice,” I murmured as he smiled at me and our eyes met. Feeling my face get hot, I looked down at my apple and spun it around. We sat in silence for a few minutes with him whistling and I humming along. “Steve?” I asked as his humming abruptly stopped. 

“Yes, Natasha?” He said, his back still to me.

“Call me Nat. Why did you sound so sad when we were talking about where we got our names? You got that look in your eye,” I asked, silence following right after except for the snap and crackle of the bacon. He clicked off the stove and turned around to face me.

“Do you know where I got my strength and training from?” He asked, his face dropping and the air tensing up.

“The United States Military, right?” I said, doubting myself but he nodded grimly. 

“I was born on March 4th, 1920.” He said, looking directly at me, waiting for the shock. I nodded. “World War II was going on then but I was only seventeen and my mother wouldn’t let me go in for service. Of course I didn’t need her approval but since my dad died she needed me. She managed to get a job in one of the factories and I ran off to go deploy. I was skinny then, extremely fragile and had a list of medical problems as long as my arm. They accepted me though and allowed me to go through a scientific experiment that would turn me into a super soldier. Later on I realized I wasn’t meant to kill Nazis, I was meant to kill Hydra agents,” 

“They turned you into a killer?” I asked, looking into his heartbroken eyes.  
“I didn’t want to kill anybody. I don’t like bullies, I don’t care where their from,” He said, his eyes now fierce and protective, but when losing their sting and retreating back into themselves. Reaching across the table, I took one of his hands in both my mine and his eyes gained that spark again. 

“You’re one of the lucky ones then,” I smiled sadly as he gave my hand a squeeze. 

“I would like to hear that story later sometime. If you will let me,” He asked, nervously as I nodded. He leaned down and kissed my hand as he turned around to go back to the food. As I pulled back my hand, I cradled it to my chest and heard the clanking of dishes and cups. The sweet aroma of coffee filled my nose as Steve asked,

“Coffee? No cream, two sugars?” He asked, sliding me the full mug with a shy smile on his face. Reaching out to grab it, my hands brushed his as I grasped the mug in both hands.

“How did you know that?” I asked, my eyebrows raised. 

“The file they gave us, all types of information,” Steve said, turning back around and sliding me a plate with two sunny side up eggs, four slices of bacon and cut up strawberries.

“Let me guess,” I said, nodding to my plate. “The file as well?” Popping a strawberry into my mouth, he nodded. Turning around to grab his plate, I swirled my coffee around in the mug as he walked over with his plate and sat next to me. 

“What information did they give you about me?” He asked, passing me a fork, which I accepted with a nod.

“None actually.” I said, picking up the fork and stabbing it into an egg. “What did they tell you about me?” I asked, taking a bite of the egg.

“Everything I think. How you like your coffee, eggs, cereal. Favorite bands are Asia and Kansas. Your history at Red Room,” He looked down nervously at this.   
“What’s your cover if you know everything about me?” I glared at the bacon. “The file I got said I was dropping you off and just watching over your training. In and out. What the hell is S.H.I.E.L.D. up to?” 

“Please don’t get upset Nata-, Nat. They want me to just get to know you better, apparently they want us to have a..relationship.” He looked down and fiddled with a piece of bacon. I took one from my plate and snapped it with my teeth. Placing his hand on my shoulder, I looked over. “I want us to actually have a close relationship. You’re a part of the family now Nat. All of us are happy to have you here and I want to get to know you.” Steve said smiling as I gave him a weak smile back. Not even here a week and they’re betraying me, I thought.

“I’d like that,” I said, smiling back, picking up another strawberry and biting into it. He smiled at me and we ate in silence. His hand was kept on my shoulder as I finished and went to stand and put up my plate. He stood up quickly as I almost ran into him, our chests meeting as the plate fell onto the counter.

“I’ll get it for you,” He said as I blushed at the close contact. I never was close to anyone but Clint and he was a brother, not someone who wanted to get a close relationship with me. As I tried to ignore the almost lightening feeling that was running down my spine, I sat back down as he grabbed the forgotten plate. As he went to go place the plates in the sink, I went over to the stereo that was in the corner. I started looking through the music. Black Sabbath. Asia. Kansas. Metallica. 

“What music do you like?” I asked as I popped in Asia and turned the volume down so that we didn’t wake the entire floor.

“I don’t really like music,” He said, as I swung my hips in time with the beat.

“Well don’t you like to dance?” I said, humming along and turning to face him, my hips still having a mind of their own. 

“I don’t know how,” He said as the water turned off and he turned back around to face me. 

“I could teach you sometime,” I said as I spun around on my heel and did a step here or there. When I raised my head, I saw him looking at me with a small smile with a hint of some emotion that I couldn’t place.

“I would like that,” He said, stepping out from behind the island. Staring intently out the window, he walked towards me with my coffee mug. “Would you like to watch the sunrise with me, Miss. Romanoff?” Steve said, extending my coffee and his arm. Turning down the music, I smiled and took both.

“It would be my pleasure, Mr. Rogers.” We talked out onto the balcony and watched a new day come into the world.


	9. Chapter 9

The sun rose over the New York skyline, bursting with deep reds, yellows, and oranges. The buildings seemed to truly scraped the sky as the night seemed to disappear with the light of a new day taking it’s place. Smiling, I leaned over the railing and began to feel the warmth on my face. Steves arm was still wrapped around my shoulders as he moved forward with me.

“This is one of my favorite things about this building. The sunrise is always so pretty and you can hear the city begin to wake up from underneath you,” He said, staring off into the distance. The sound of the city below began to make its way up to us like a band preparing to perform. Snapping back, he turned his head away and looked down.

“You really do like being here, don’t you? I mean wasn’t it weird waking up in a block of ice and waking up decades later?” I asked, cupping my mug tightly in my hands.

“It’s just like the army, sort of, but with nicer beds and drill sergeant. Today’s technology is amazing and it’s a lot easier to cure diseases and keep people safe. ” He said, giving me a clipped smile as he moved his arm away from mine. 

“Steve?” I asked, as all I received was a nod. “What is Hydra?” He signed and ran a hand through his hair, a classic sign of his nervousness and unease I picked up.

“Well, you know about World War II right? The Nazis in Germany, the Holocaust and all of that?” He said, as I nodded. “Hydra is a criminal organization dedicated to the achievement of world domination. During the war, they hid in the Nazi organization, using them to bring their organization and mission to the front lines. They fought to gain control and eventually turned the organization totally Hydra. Their leader is a man named Johann Schmidt, but he goes by Red Skull. He wears a red skull mask given to him by Hitler, we still haven’t figured out why. He brought up the Hydra organization right under Hitlers nose. Hydra wants to have complete control by taking away people’s freedoms, making them submit to the higher power in which they believe themselves to be.” Steve said, running a ran through his hair. Taking a deep breath, I turned my sights back onto the city. A breeze flew up on the balcony, gently swaying my hair with it and causing me to wrap my arms around myself. Feeling Steve tighten his grip on me, pulling me closer into his side, I tensed up and felt the warmth radiate from him. Shivering slightly, he continued. “They went underground after the war was over but they’ve been popping up on S.H.I.E.L.D’s radar recently and they’ve been keeping me up to date.” He said, letting out a sigh and adjusting his hold on me but keeping me close. The wind blew softly around the patio and the sounds of the city filled the air. “I’m glad that they assigned you to the case,” Steve said, his voice soft and light, yet some how crammed with emotion. 

“I’m glad they put me on too,” was the only thing I could manage to squeak out while not choking on the pure surprise in my voice. No one showed emotion like this towards me. Well Clint did, but he was Clint. The Capsicle was opening up his heart to me, bearing it all, and all I did was stutter like a dumbstruck child. We stood in silence, letting the echo of my words slowing fall. A clearing of a throat broke the silence into a million pieces. Sharply turning around, I dropped my mug and went to step forward into my defensive position. I cried out in pain as I felt a shard of ceramic slice through my foot and dig deep into my flesh. Steves arm reached out to grab me, but the mystery man caught me instead. Clutching onto him, I took a deep breathe in through my nose. Clint. Shit. I looked up at him and if looks could kill, I would’ve been dead and six feet under. Well, he wasn’t looking at me per say.

“Next time you touch her, I will personally make sure that you wish you were still in that ice cube,” He spoke, slowly making sure each word hit their mark and punctured through Steve’s now cold demeanor.

“I don’t think it’s your choice who she’s with,” Steve replied, his voice matching with a steely tone. While they were staring daggers at each other, I decided it was my time to make my escape. Slowly trying to pry myself out of Clint’s grap, I was stopped almost immediately by his steel grasp. 

“Where do you think you’re going?” He asked me, demeanor totally changing and almost smiling down at me.

“To clean up the mess I made why you girls keep arguing over who's prettiest,” I said, slipping in the deepest sarcasm I could. Earning a small smile, Clint turned his steely blue eyes onto Steve.

“I’m sure Steven here knows how to use a broom while we go get you stitched up. Am I right?” Clint asked, as Steve looked like pure murder was the only thing on his mind. “Let’s go.” He said, turning around and swinging me along with me. Placing my check on Clint’s shoulder, I glanced back at the Captain. He was staring off at us with something in his eyes, besides anger, that I couldn’t quite place.

“Sorry” I mouthed to him but all I received was a small smile and darkness as we turned the corner down the hallway to Clint’s room.


	10. Chapter 10

Unceremoniously, I was dropped onto the neatly made bed as the door shut behind Clint. Blowing a piece of hair away from my face, I was greeted with a very stern looking Hawkeye. I crossed my arms against my chest as he headed into the bathroom.

“What in the holy hell was that shit, Clint?” I asked, trying to control my voice as he came back into the room, holding a first aid kit. 

“Oh don’t defend him, Natasha,” He said, sitting down on the floor in front of me, refusing to meet my eye. “He had his hands all over you. He doesn’t even know you, you barely know him.” Popping open the case, he sighed and turned to look at me with his blue eyes of his. Those eyes. I sighed and slowly let my anger dissipate. 

“He had his arm around me, it was nothing. We were just talking, getting ready for the mission,” I tried to explain as I heard him mutter under his breath,  
“It didn’t look like just talking,” as I nudged him in the shoulder with my toes.

“Remember the first time we met? I nearly killed you. The time after that you tried to kill me. Almost did, but your aim was off,” I tried to lighten the mood by teasing him and it seemed to work as his eyebrow went up and a smile danced across his lips. “Third time's the charm though,” I said smiling and uncrossing my arms and running my hand through his hair. Feeling his relax, I continued. “I mean I never knew the elusive Hawkeye was such a big fan of My Little Pony.” Smirking, I saw his face turn a bright red as he began stuttering out a response.

“It was a phase! Besides that we six years ago, I was twelve!” Clint glared at me as he stood up and joined me on the couch. Reaching under the bed, I grabbed a piece of clothing and yanked it out. My Little Pony boxers.

“Darling, you cannot lie to me,” I said, sticking my tongue out at him and tossing the underwear in his face. It hit the center dead on and I burst out laughing, as he slowly removed the article of clothing and dropped it on the floor. Slowly, I regained my composure and cast a glance at Clint. He was staring at me with a weird mixture of emotions. 

“What?” I asked, now suddenly award of the glances he was given me, as I began twisting a piece of hair around my fingers. He reached out and took the hair from my hand, slipping it gently behind my ear.

“I haven’t heard you laugh in a long time, Nat. It’s a nice sound,” He said, with a deep tone of underlying sadness in his voice. His hand rested on my check and I placed my hand on top of his.

“That’s why I’m here, Clint. To get away from all that. To start over.” I said smiling, as I went to cross my legs, then wincing as the bottom of my foot hit the bed. Clint’s hand dropped from my face as he snatched up the first aid kit. 

“Hand it over,” He said, scooting back as I placed my foot on his lap. “Now this might hurt,” He prepared him, as I saw his extract the tweezers from the kit.  
“We both know I’ve been through worse,” I said, but gripping a handful of sheets anyways. Slowly, he pulled out a couple of shards of the ceramic mug, clinking them on the open top of the kit. 

“There we go. Now this will sting. Like hell.” Clint said, as I slowly released the sheets and he grabbed a bottle of antibacterial spray. Quickly, he sprayed my cut and wrapped it tightly with gauze. “All done.” Remarking, he leaned down underneath the bed and snatched up a piece of paper. Slowly, he pulled something off of it and placed it gently on the bandage. I raised my eyebrows at him as he turned the paper to show me. My Little Pony stickers. I giggled and he placed the stickers down on the bed. “You’re supposed to meet up with the Capsicle at 16:00, right?” He asked, as I nodded and looked at the bottom of my foot, to see, who I assumed to be, Rainbow Dash staring up at me. “You got til noon.” He said, snatching me up again as I let out a small shriek. Holding me with one arm over his shoulder, he yanked back the blankets.

“What do you think you’re doing?” I asked as he placed me back down.

“I am enjoying what little time I have left with you before you’re stuck with Capsicle,” He said, as he plopped down next to me and threw the blankets back over us.

“This is like Budapest, except without all the gunfire.” I said, turning on my side, my back against the wall.

“You and I remember Budapest very differently,” He said, wrapping his arms around me as he began humming. Slowly but surely, I fell asleep to the steady beat of his heart and the off key humming of my favorite lullaby.


	11. Chapter 11

I was awoken by sharp pokes to my side and my eyes flew open. My hands flew to my pocket and my knife was aimed in the direction of the pokes. Clint was standing their with two mugs of steaming coffee in his hands.

“Remind me not to do that again.” He said, slipping down next to me as I shoved my knife back into the waistband of my sweatpants and brushed my hair back.

“I remind you each time and you still keep doing it.” I said, grabbing a mug from him, crossing my legs and letting the steam of the coffee smother my face. Feeling his eyes on me, I snuck a sip. “Really?” I said, looking over at him. Looking completely not innocent, his eyes went to mine, the mug still on his lips. “Again with the almond milk?” I asked, placing the mug in between my legs. Clint looked over at me with a devilish smile and slowly took his mug away with a look of pure astonishment.

“Why my dearest Nat, I thought you loved almond milk.” He said, smiling widely at me as I stood up.

“No. That’s you silly.” I said, walking over to the door, mug in hand and opened it. I closed it behind me and headed down the hallway, my bare feet padding against the solid carpet, trying to keep my injured foot off of the ground. A great eruption of laughter met me as I stepped into the kitchen along with Thor and Tony smiling and cooking something that smelled absolutely amazing. With my mouth watering, I made my way over to them and poured out the coffee into the sink.

“Good morning!” Thor erupted, with a slam of his own mug on the counter. Looking over my shoulder as I placed my mug next to the coffee pot.

“Good morning to you too.” I said, smiling at the blonde mountain, receiving a large smile in return. “And you too Tony.” Sneaking a glance over at the playboy, he smirked at me as I picked up the coffee pot and poured it into the mug.

“How’d your sleep with birdie go?” Tony asked, sipping out of his mug and raising his eyebrow.

“Lovely, thank you for asking.” I said, as I heard him chuckle and place his mug down on the counter. Searching through the cabinet, I snagged the sugar and as I closed the door, I was greeted with the extremely close face of Tony. Taking a step back and resting on my back foot, I raised my hand up without realizing that it was the one holding the sugar. He raised an eyebrow as I made my way past him and poured some of the sugar into the coffee. 

“Did he trick you with the milk of the almonds?” Thor asked, with a mouth full of food I might add. Picking up the sugar and placing it back into the cabinet, I turned around and leaned my back against the counter.

“He does it to you too?” I asked as Thor nodded. It seemed like everything he did was large and exaggerated. 

“I do not like the milk of the almonds. The milk of the cow is much better.” He said, nodding to himself, talking around a large bite of a pile of eggs. Ever since Clint went to a coffee shop in Russia that only served almond milk, he had been hooked. That was the only thing he drank in his coffee, or had in his eggs, or put in anything. He has been trying to make me like it for years but I had always found it disgusting. Crossing my legs, I sipped on my almond milk free coffee as Tony came and stood next to me.

“So you and birdie were getting snuggly this morning?” He said, as I snuck a glance at the clock and realized it was 12:46. Running a hand through my hair, I smiled at him.  
“Only as snuggly as you and Bruce were.” I smirked at him, remembering the very disselved Bruce sneaking his way into the living room as Clint stole me off of the patio. His face turned bright red and began stammering, although it was hard to hear over the roar of Thor's loud chortling.

“I like this one! We must keep her!” Thor exclaimed, smiling down at me, towering over me even sitting in a chair. Looking into his coffee mug and frowning, he slammed it down once again, smashing it on impact. “Another!” Tony sprang into action, snatching up a rag and scooping up what he could of the shards.

“Thor. This is the third mug you’ve broken this week. My father is going to kill you.” He said, simply and in short sentences, causing the sides of my mouth to lift up.

“Let me help.” I said, grabbing a rag that was hanging off of the counter and hobbled my way to the other side of the counter. Leaning down and resting all my weight on one foot, I snatched up the rest of the shards from underneath the chair. Standing back up, I placed my other foot down gently and made my way slowly back.

“Tony! The red one is injured.” Thor said and before I knew it, I was being kidnapped once again and thrown up in the air, and landing over Thor’s shoulder.

“Damn it!” I said, throwing my hands up in frustration and hanging upside down, trying to keep my head as far away from Thor’s ass as possible. Hearing footsteps and a cold hand on my foot, I used my other one to quickly jab the person in their neck. A sharp intake of air and a gasp of pain was my response.

“Geez.” Tony muttered as he tried to grab my foot again and I let him, resisting my urge to kick him again. He unwrapped the bandage and inspected the wound. “It’s not too bad, birdie did a good job.” He said, rewrapping it. “We’ll have to show Nick before you leave.”

Thor gently set me down, I’m assuming on orders from Tony. “How’d you get that?” He asked, as I sat on the counter and grabbed my coffee mug safely between my hands.  
“Birdie and Capsicle had a bit of a...conversation.” I said, shrugging my shoulders as Tony leaned against the counter next to me.

“Does it have to do with the broken mug in the trash can I found this morning?” Tony asked, raising an eyebrow up and his lips pursing at me. Raising my hands up in defense, I felt a smile run across my lips. He sighed but a smile remained on his lips as he went over to the coffee pot and poured Thor another cup of coffee. “Geez, you’re here only a day and you’re already playing the let's how see how many mugs we can break before Tony's’ father kills him. Thor’s beating you by eight.” He said, placing the full steaming mug down on the counter next to Thor and earning a large smile from Thor.

“I am quite good at the game of the smashing of the drinking containers.” Thor said, going to smash the mug in his hand, then realizing it held his beloved coffee and holding it protectively. I smiled as I heard a door swing open and Cap-, Steve, stepped in from the porch. Glancing up at him, he lowered his eyes away and headed to the cabinet. We stood in awkward silence as another door was opened and soon enough Clint was making his way to join us. Sitting up on the counter seats with Thor, he nodded to me. The air thickened as Clint glanced at Steve and their eyes caught one another's. 

Clearing his throat, we all snapped to look at Tony. “Who wants waffles?”


	12. Chapter 12

“Sorry no time for waffles boys.” I said, smiling as Tony started to put on one of his signature pouts. Captain looked at me as I made my way down the hallway to my room. “I’ll meet you in the armory, okay? I wanna get a good look at what they’re putting us up with.” His mouth opened but my hand flew up and cut him off. “I can find my way there.” He gave me a small, distracted smile as I made my way down the hallway and into my room, closing the door softly behind me. Sighing, I ran a hand through my hair as I picked up Steve's file which was neatly laid out on the desk. Opening it, my eyes scanned over the information I had already memorized. He was born in Brooklyn, his mom was a nurse in an infectious care ward and she eventually succumbed to one of the disease herself. He forged his age along with his friend, James “Bucky” Barnes. James was drafted and Steve, due to his small stature and medical issues the length of my arm and then some, was selected to receive the “Super Soldier Serum”. He fought against Hydra along with a few select soldiers, including this “Bucky”, who eventually was killed in action. He destroyed Red Skull, the acclaimed leader of Hydra, with the Tesseract, an intergalactic battery. Frozen in a block of ice for decades, S.H.I.E.L.D found and thawed him.

Tossing the file back onto the desk, I slipped the knife out of the waistband of my sweatpants and weighed it in my hand. I tossed it in my hand and snatching it quickly from the air, I flung it at the wall. It stuck there trembling as I slumped my shoulders. I made my way into the bathroom and slipped the door shut behind me. I turned on the water and stripped out of my clothes, plopping them down in a neat little pile. After the water had begin to steam up the room, I sunk underneath the soothing water. I slid down the back of the shower, hanging my head and letting the water run over me. I ran a hand through my now damp hair and signed. I can’t believe I’m doing this I muttered to myself as I stood up and placing my head underneath the water. I was running off on a mission, for a new team I barely knew and was taught to destroy, without the only agent I truly trusted with my life, with a new guy that may or may not make my heart want to jump out of my chest. But you know, no big deal. I splashed my face with the burning liquid before turning the dial back slowly, stopping the flow of water, the sliding the curtain back. My foot hit the plush mat as I snagged an even fluffier towel. I wrapped it tightly around me and managed to pad my way across the cold tile onto the carpet. Throwing my hair up in a simple towel knot, I threw on my combat suit, which was freshly washed and perhaps even pressed. It smelt like the general type of laundry detergent not the stale stench that Red Room used. Fishing out a pair of fresh white socks from the top drawer of the dresser, I sat on the edge of the bed and slipped one on. I turned my injured foot towards me and the soaked, blood spotted bandage stared back. Ripping it off of my foot, I threw it into the trashcan and snatched up the first aid kit that was barely hidden underneath the bed. Laying it on the bed, I inspected the small sliver of red gash in the middle of my foot.I quickly wrapped it in gauze and taped it up. I slid the other sock on and tightly laced up on my combat boots. Standing, my boots hit the carpet with a satisfying dull thud as I checked my knifes and Widows Bites. Grabbing the rest of the weapons from my bag, I slipped them into their slots and holsters. I stashed the first aid kit back under the bed along with my empty bag. Undoing the towel, I tossed it into the nearby laundry basket and shook out my hair. Standing up, I tested my injured foot as a quick throb of pain was sent up my legs. I sighed and opened the door, looking down at my foot. _Go see Fury my ass_ I thought closing the door behind me. Making my way into the living room, everyone was eating waffles, smiling on the couches and watching some cartoons on the television. A smile flittered across my face as I saw Clint smiling and laughing with Thor as Bruce and Tony talked amongst themselves.

“Maybe this is where you belong,” I murmured to myself as I turned away from the scene playing out in front of me and pressed the button to call the elevator. The elevator arrived and opened without the usual ding. I stepped inside and turned around, facing my new family as they slowly disappeared behind the closing door.

“I assumed that you wouldn’t want to disturb them Miss. Romanoff.” A voice erupted from the elevator as my arm went for my gun. Jarvis I mentally reminded myself and dropped my hand.

“Thank you.” I said. The ride was silent as we arose a few floors up. The elevator stopped and the doors slid open.

“Good luck Miss. Romanoff.” The voice spoke again as I stepped out into a large area with a hallway leading back into what I assumed to be the armory.

“Thank you..Jarvis.” I added at the end as the door slid shut and I made my way down  

the hallway. Opening the heavy metal door, I smiled at the large amounts of weapons that lined the huge room. Tables among tables were lined with all types of knives, throwing stars and even more pointy things I had never seen before. I seemed to be the only one in the maze of weapons as I made my way over to a table and picked up a knife. Nicely balanced, amount a three inch blade, slightly curved at the end. Placing it back down, I heard the door open behind me. Turning around, Steve and Nick were walking in, smiling and talking like two old friends. Steve’s face dropped slightly when he saw me but still gave me a curt nod.

“Miss. Romanoff.” He said, as Nick's eyes glanced between us.

“Captain.” I responded back in a curt tone. My eyes quickly noticed the subtle changes in his appearance. His hair was now extremely blonde, almost white and his bright, eager blue eyes had been hidden behind a deep brown.

“Good to see you Miss. Romanoff. I see you have began taking stock of our weaponry?” Fury remarked, his combat boots hitting the cement floor as he made his way over.

“They all seem to be lovely pieces of cutlery but I will be sticking with my pieces.” I said, patting my gun that was resting on my hip as my Widow’s Bite knocked against it. Fury nodded and even gave me a small smile.

“We assumed so and we wouldn’t have it any other way.” He said. “Steve, however, only seems to use that shield of his and of course he can’t go trotting into MI6 with that.”

“Of course not sir.” I said, casting Steve a timid smile which he returned. Nick began to walk further back into the armory and Steve followed him. I quickly began to go in step with Steve. He was standing up straight with his arms folded behind his back. Too tense.

“Have you been on a mission like this before?” I asked, swinging my arms loosely and turning my head slightly to face him. He looked at me with question in his now brown eyes. “You’re nervous. Body language says a lot.” I replied as he loosened up.

“Yes, but when Hydra’s involved I get a little…” Steve stopped as if searching for the right word.

“Tense?” I said, earning a nod from him. “It’s alright. All agents when going against a common enemy feel an extra sense to go above what they need to do. At least that’s what MI6 tried to tell me when I went up against Red Room for the first time. It never goes away no matter how many times you try to convince yourself it’s just nerves.” I looked up at him as he nodded at me.

“I can’t even begin to imagine how that must’ve been. Going against your past with the history you have. They were your fellow agents, friends even.” He said, loosening his facial expressions as I tightened mine and turned my focus ahead of me.

“You don’t make friends in that hell hole.”

* * *

 

The next hour consisted of knife throwing, gun shooting and learned that Captain does know more than just how to toss around a shield. We left the armory with the Captain suited up in three guns, two knives, and a few throwing stars, which I assumed he grabbed in memory of his beloved shield. Captain and I stepped into the elevator with Nick following us, closing the door with his back to us. We all stood there, staring straight ahead when Steve and I darting glances at one another. The elevator ride took us down, I mean all the way down. Slowly the elevator came to a stop and the doors slid open to expose the garage. We stepped out and made our way passed lines of amazing cars. Classics, muscles, modern. About half way down, Captain stopped and made his way over to a motorcycle.

“Is this yours?” I asked, following him and inspecting the ride. “A Harley Davidson Street 750? Not bad.” Nodding, I sat in the seat as he looked down at me very surprised.

“Yes.” He said, patting the handlebars. “This is my...baby.” Steve smiled at it before Nick Fury too obviously cleared his throat.

“Steve here will take you both to the airstrip where the jet will be waiting to take you both. Your luggage is already there and your flight leaves in half an hour so I suggest you both get going.” He paused for a moment, casting his eyes over both of us. “Good luck you too.” Steve stood up straighter and offered his hand to Fury who shook it. When they let go, Fury looked at me and we exchanged a curt nod. He left us there and made his way to the elevator. With the sound of the shutting of the elevator doors, Steve looked down at me and smiled.

“I drive.”


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay here we go! An actual real life Romanger's moment. If you're enjoying this fic, which I really hope you are, please leave a comment or concern. It would mean a lot. Enjoy and like always, thanks.

I stood up, swinging my leg over the side as Steve took his seat. Fishing out the key from a pocket in his leather jacket, he slipped it out and started the engine. He stood up and kicked the kickstand away, looking back at me.

“Coming?” He asked with a playful smirk dancing across this lips. I took my seat behind him and wrapped my arms around his waist, plastering my hands on his chest.

“Let’s do this thing.” I said, smiling as he revved the engine and we were on our way.

* * *

 

We reached the air strip in a short twenty minutes. Steve cut off the engine and slid down the kickstand, parking right next to the small private jet. I stood up and ran a hand through my wind tousled hair.

“Not bad.” I said, looping my thumbs into my waist band. Steve stood next to me with his hands shoved in his jean pockets.

“You haven’t even seen the inside yet.” He made his way to the stairs a uniformed guard had just brought down. He stopped at the foot of the stairs and extended his arm upwards. “After you m’lady.” He said, as I smiled at him and made my way up the stairs, my hand gliding over the rail. I stepped onto the jet, my boots hitting the soft, plush carpet. The inside of the jet was almost as nice as Stark Towers. Leather seats lined the length of the large cabin on either side, with a booth and a small table being the only thing to mark the perfect symmetry. Two leather bucket seats were both turned towards a huge flat screen t.v at the other end of the cabin that was hanging over a door I assumed lead to the cockpit. There was a huge multimedia system underneath the t.v. with hundreds, maybe even a thousand, D.V.D.’s and C.D.’s.

“This is amazing,” I said, lounging on one of the leather seats. “Quite comfortable.” Resting my arm on the back of the seat, I turned my head to see Captain flash me a large grin before taking a seat behind me.

“Glad you like it. We’re gonna be on here for a while. It’s one of Stark's best and my personal favorite.” Steve said, as there was slam as the stairs were loaded back into the jet. I turned my head back to meet unfamiliar eyes.

“You picked this out?” I asked crossing my arms against my chest as my heart did a small backflip inside of my chest. The sheepish smile he gave me made about a hundred, possible two, butterflies flutter around my stomach.

“Yeah. I felt bad about what happened between Clint and I. I should’ve been the mature one. How is your foot anyways?” He asked, as he patted his legs, signalling me to lay my legs across his. I swung myself around and let my legs drape across his.

“Clint can act like a child. He seems to be one of things that he’s good at.” I smirked, earning a chuckle from Steve as his long fingers went to work, carefully undoing the knots on my boots. “It wasn’t your fault in any sense of the word.” I added as he slipped off my left shoe, along with my sock. Steve carefully removed the bandage, acting as if I was as fragile as a porcelain doll. Propping myself on my elbows, he tossed the bandages on the floor and inspected the thin red line on the bottom of my foot. “It’s fine, really. I should be without the bandage by now anyways.” He turned to face me with a concerned tint in his eyes. “Just put on my sock.”

“We should get you another bandage.” He proposed as I blew a piece of hair out of my face. Using my left foot, I slid off the other boot and it hit the floor with a thud.

“I will be fine.” I said, sitting up. Leaving my left leg sprawled across his, I tucked my right on underneath myself. We kept steady eye contact , his eyes seeming to frantically search through mine. Giving me one last glance, he picked up my sock and slipped it over my foot gently.

“If you even start walking funny, I will be carrying you off this plane.” His eyes narrowed as I let a smile fall across my lips.

“We have a deal then.” I said as his face lit up in a smile that reached his eyes that didn’t belong to him. “I see you’re adjusting well to the contacts then?” I asked, tucking my other leg underneath me and facing towards Steve.

“They aren’t exactly comfortable, but they’re needed for the mission.” Steve said, blinking a few times as if to prove a point. “Do they work okay?”

“Quite well actually.” I said, smiling. “I do like your blue eyes a lot better though.” I added in a small voice. Steve’s face erupted in an even greater smile. I cleared my throat and cast my eyes down as I felt Steve’s hand on my face. Raising my head back up, his eyes bore into mine.

“Why thank you.” He slid a strand of hair away from my face before running his thumb across my cheek gently. My lips curled upwards in a small smile as we continued to gaze at each other before a voice erupted in the cabin.

“We will be leaving now.” The voice spoke, crisp and clear over the intercom before a sharp click left the cabin in silence. Steve slowly removed his hand from my face and let out a slight cough as I swung my legs out from underneath me. The plane began to move forwards, gaining speed as we sat in silence until it arose in the air.

“So, what should we do now?” I asked, slipping off my Widows Bites and placing them on the seat next to me.

“We could always watch a movie to pass the time.” He suggested, shrugging his shoulders. I stood up, unclicking my utility belt and walking over to the racks of films. Sliding it off and tossing into the nearest seat, my fingers roamed over the cases. Captain America - New York City Performance screamed at me as I slid it out of the stack. Sliding it between my fingers, I turned around and smirked.

“I think you’ll like this one.” I said as he stood up and walked towards me, reaching for the film. Moving my arm back, his eyebrows raised at me. “It’s a surprise, darling.” He chuckled and took a seat in one of the bucket seats. Bending over, I opened up the case and slid the film into the player. Jabbing the play button, I stood up to see Captain’s eyes meeting mine. Patting the space next to him, he smiled. Taking a deep breath, I sat next to him, feeling his leg pressed into mine.

“Comfortable?” Steve asked. My eyes caught his before roaming over the smirk on his face. Swinging my legs to fall across his lap, I smiled at him sweetly.

“Of course.” I rested my head against the back of the seat as the t.v. turned from black to the program. The screen lit up onto a black and white stage with the curtains drawn. Hearing Steve draw in a sharp intake a breath, I bit my lip. The curtains were pulled back to expose about twenty performers dressed in a very feminine version of Captain’s uniform. Beginning the can-can dance routine, Captain America himself strut out on stage. My hands flew to my face as I erupted in giggles. Seeing him strut about and then sock old Adolf Hitler on the jaw as the final straw as I exploded in full out laughter. Taking a moment to calm myself down, I cast my gaze on Steve who was glaring down at me. “Oh that was wonderful.” My bottom lip began to quiver as I tried to contain my laughter. His eyes softened and a small smile fell across his lips.

“I suppose you’re right. I was quite handsome.” His eyes followed my lips as they fell back into a set smile. “You have a beautiful laugh.” Steve said, barely a whisper as his hand once again cupped my cheek. Leaning into his touch, he slowly brought his face down to mine. “It’s almost as lovely as you.” With this filling the silence, our lips meet gently. Stringing my hands through his hair, I melted into his side as his warm lips cradled mine. Pulling back slightly, he rested his forehead against mine. Giving my nose a quick peck, he leaned back. “Why don’t we see what else Tony put on this tape.” Snatching up a blanket that was next to the chair and draping it over us both, he took my hand and intertwined it with his. I rested my head against his shoulder as he gently placed a kiss on my forehead. Our chests beginning to fall in time together as the film played on. 


	14. Chapter 14

We continued watching old films, every now and then exchanging glances and small kisses. I was beginning to drift off, encased and surrounded by warmth as the crackle of the loudspeaker erupted against the near silence of the cabin.

“We will be landing in a few moments.” That’s all that was said, Captain looked down at me with slight adoration in his eyes.

“Time to wake up” He murmured to me, resting his nose against my cheek as I closed my eyes. Snuggling deeper into his chest, he leaned further into me until we were reunited with the ground. “Now we actually have to move.” He groaned moving his face away from mine. Slowly, I removed myself from his lap and rubbed my tired eyes. Standing up, he stretched and smiled down at me. Smiling back at him, he leaned down and pressed his lips softly to my forehead. “I’ll be right back.” He said, as he made his way to the bathroom, shutting the door behind him. Sighing with a soft smile resting on my face, I ran a hand through my hair and took a deep breath. _So much for keeping emotions in check_ I thought to myself. Closing my eyes and releasing the air, I willed myself to relax as a pair of hands encased themselves around my waist. I stiffened at the touch and they dropped. “Are you okay?” The voice said as I turned around and raised to eyes to meet unfamiliar ones.

“Yeah. Fine.” I said, plastering a smile onto my face. A flicker of some emotion lit up in his eyes before dissipating.

“Alright. Are you ready?” He asked, placing his hands on my shoulders and smiling at me all the same. Placing my hands on is and removing them, the smile vanished.

“Yes, but according to the files, we don’t know each other. Our first encounter was this plane ride and it will probably be the longest time we have alone until we finish this assignment. I’m simply here to drop you off and help with the training of you and the other recruits.”I started to explain as I straightened out his shirt and slipping the glasses that were in his front pocket. “After a week or so, after I get what S.H.I.E.L.D wants, you quit and we head back to New York.” I slipped the glasses onto his face and kept a hand on his cheek.  He smiled at me until I dropped my hand. “Until then, we can’t act like we know each other. No talking except for when it’s called for, no physical contact whatsoever, especially not all this.” I said, motioning towards the cabin. “These people know me and trust me, they’ll notice this.” I added at the end as his eyes darted around my face as if trying to find an answer for all of this. Biting my lip, I stood on my tippy toes and pressed my lips gently to his cheek. There was a faint rap on the side of the cabin as I lowered myself and we exchanged small smile as I grasped my Widows Bites and clasped them on as someone opened up the cabin door and extended out the stairs. I ran a hand through my hair once again before giving Steve a small smile and stepping out into the sunshine. My eyes quickly adapted to the light as they landed on a figure leaning against a S.U.V. that was parked a couple yards away from the aircraft.

“My little ballerina!” The figure called out as I reached the ground and a smile erupted on my face as I made my way to the car.

“Good to see you too Nicholas.” I said, embracing the man standing in front of me. Pulling back, I smiled at the leader of the training division of MI6. He placed his hands on my shoulders and smiled down at me with bright brown eyes. Working with MI6 to help me escape Red Room, Nicholas had taken me under his wing and became like a big brother to me.

“Now this must be the new recruit.” He said, gently moving me aside to take a look at Steve who was walking towards us.

“Yes.” I said, standing next to him and crossing my arms behind my back. “Christopher Downey  meet Mr. Buckley, he will be your adviser during the training process.” I introduced as Steve stretched out his hand and Nick scanned his eyes over him before accepting it with two quick shakes. I small smile ran across my lips as they dropped hands.

“Is this your first time in jolly old England?” Nick asked.

“Yes, sir.” Steve replied, quite politely. Nick cast a glance at me and I nodded slightly with the same smile stuck on my face.

“Well welcome then.” Nick said, turning back to Steve. “I hope you both had a lovely flight.” He added at the end, reaching out and gripping my shoulder. “We should be going now, don’t want to keep M waiting now do we?”

“No sir.” I said, smiling as he returned the smile and made his way to the driver's seat of the S.U.V. Quickly, I winked at Steve before taking my place in the passengers seat. As I slid the door shut with a slam, Nick started up the engine and Steve shut the door, taking a seat behind Nick. We pulled out onto the main road and headed into the city. It was quiet and Nick was quietly humming to himself. “How’s Alyssa?” I blurted out as Nick’s eyes locked onto me through the rearview mirror.

“She’s doing great. Getting pretty big, she’s about seven months along and were expecting a bouncing baby boy.” He said, beaming down at me. “She’s really excited to see you again, little ballerina.” He said, throwing my nickname in at the last second. I smiled at him and studied his features. Being only twenty six, he was the youngest trainer for new recruits at MI6 and yet he always was calm and collected. His brown eyes always held light behind them and his thick brown hair was always neatly parted. I turned my sights back onto the road as the rest of the journey was silent and every now and then I’d cast glances at Steve through the rearview mirror. The ride was quite short and we pulled into the parking lot in front of a large, magnificent building. Nick cut off the engine and smiled at me. “Welcome home.” Smiling back, I swung open the door and stepped out, greeted by a cool breeze. I followed Nick who was already making his way towards the front door and Steve pulled up alongside me.

“Ballerina?” He mouthed to me with a smile playing on his lips.

“Later.” I mouthed back, rolling my eyes as Nick opened the door and held it wide open.

“Ladies first.” He smirked as I made my way inside with Nick following close behind. After multiple checkpoints, smiles from old friends and a few unwanted glances at Steve from the female workforce, we finally made our way to the central control room. It was a large room, seemingly out of place against the classy decorum of the outside view of the building. No windows lined the walls, only monitors filled with all types of information, images and data. Walking up to the center table, I opened up the briefcase full of information that Fury had sent ahead of us and the snap that ensued attracted the attention of the woman at the other end of the table.

“Afternoon, M.” I said, straightening my posture as she turned around to face me.

“I do suppose you mean evening.” She said. “I assume you had an enjoyable flight.” Her eyes removed themselves from me and landed on Steve who was standing behind me and next to Nick. “This must be Mr. Downey I presume.” She added, as he stepped forwards to stand next to me.

“Yes, M.” I said, sliding the file that contained all the information for “Mr. Evans” towards her. Opening it, her eyes gazes over it quickly before snapping it shut.

“You’re here to watch over him? Help in the training?” She asked, placing the file down on the table..

“Yes M. As long as I am needed.” I said as she nodded.

“Good. You’re always a valuable asset to have, Romanoff.” She said, as I nodded once again and her eyes went back to me. “Well, you’re dismissed. Mr. Buckley and I need to go over the security and basic matters with Mr. Downey. I assume you remember where your chambers are located?” She said more than asked, reopening the file and splaying it’s contents across the table.

“Yes M.” I said, turning on my heel and making my way out the door. Gently closing the solid oak door behind me, I let out a deep sigh or relief. Standing up straight and brushing a strand of hair out of my face, I made my way down the seemingly endless corridor. I stopped at the last door on the left and opened it to reveal a very round pregnant women sitting atop my bed. Her green eyes lit up when I entered and her yellow hair seemed to follow her as she stood up.

“Natasha!” She exclaimed, hugging me tightly, her protruding stomach pressing against my flat one.

“Alyssa.” I replied, almost clutching the small women to me. “How have you been?” I asked as she released me. “You should be sitting down. I’d rather not have you pop on my account.” I added at the end as I lead her back to the edge of the bed.

“Don’t worry, I still have two months to go before this bun is ready to come out of the oven.” Alyssa said with a smile on her face and patting her stomach as I sat down next to her.

“What are you planning on naming him?” I asked.

“So my dear husband told you the gender? We were going to tell you together but nevermind. We want to name him Nate, short for Nathaniel.” She said with eagerness in her eyes as she all but shouted at me the last part. “We want you to be the godmother, Nat.”

“Y...Yeah.” I managed to stutter out as an even bigger smile erupted on her face. “I mean I don’t know if I’ll be around much and taking care of Clint when he drinks too much is the most experience I’ve had taking care of a child, but I’ll try my best.” I added as she laughed a little.

“Oh that’s great!” She said, standing up slowly and clutching her stomach. “I’ll let Nick know when he gets out of briefing.” Alyssa said, practically waddling to the door and opening it with her free hand. Stepping out into the hallway, she turned back to face me. “I saw a picture of the new trainee that you brought in.” She smirked at me. “Looks like Clint has some competition.” She added before the door clicked shut behind her. Laying down on the bed, I let out a sigh with a small smile. I guess he does.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this fic is being slowly uploaded from fanfic.net where I published it originally. After this chapter gets posted, the next mass chapters I upload will be the final ones and then this fic and the original one will be caught up and each will be updated at around the same time, weekly, bi-weekly at most. So I hope you all enjoy this.

A knock on the door snapped the grin off of my face as  I swung my legs over the side of the bed.

“Enter.”  I called out as I brushed back strands of my hair out of my face. The door slowly opened and Steve carefully walked in. A small smile pulled at the edges of my lips as he shut the door behind himself.

“Hello.” He said with a wide grin as he sat down next to me.

“Hello yourself.” I said as my face erupted into a full smile. “How did the interview go?” I asked as he sighed and ran a hand through his short hair. Plopping down a large folder that he had been carrying, he cast me a small tired smile.

“I’m supposed to read that all tonight to be ready for training tomorrow.” Steve said, looking down at the mass of papers that was laying in my lap. I picked up the folder, weighing the folder in my hands.

“They’re getting heavier.” I said, earning myself a small chuckle. Looking over at Steve, he reached over and carefully took his hand in mine. Glancing down at them, I softly cleared my throat. “Is Nick going to take you down to the dorms later?” I asked as I flipped my hand over and our fingers intertwined.

“He told me that it was your turn actually.” He said, as I let out a sigh and rolled my eyes. “It gave me a reason to come and visit you.” Steve added at the end, leaning close and bumping my shoulder with his. “I’m guessing it’s supposed to be his turn?”

“You bet your ass it is.” I muttered out placing the file down on the bed next to me. “He knows I hate greeting the newbies, they always stare. At least during training I can kick their ass.” I said as I ran a hand through my hair.

“Well you are a legend after all.” Steve said, vaguely trying to keep a playful tone.

“An infamous legend.” I corrected. “They always ask the same questions. How many people have you killed? Does the KGB really cut of the oxygen in their interrogation rooms until the prisoners pass out? Or do they just impale them with nine-inch red hot metal rods underneath their fingernails?” I said, blowing air out noisily as he squeezed my hand and his eyes locked onto mine.

“None of that is true.” Steve said, uneasily as he searched my eyes with his. “Right, Romanoff?” He said, still trying to maintain that playful tone.

“That’s just the tip of the iceberg, Rogers.” I sighed out as I felt him lay his other hand ontop of mine as his body turned towards mine.

“All of that’s behind you now.” He said, firmly with his eyes boring into mine. “You left that horrible place and you’re never going back. None of us, Bruce, Tony,” He took a deep breathe. “Clint or me will let that happen. You’re with us now and I won’t let anything happen to you.” He added at the end as a slight shade of pink covered his face. I smiled slightly and leaned into his side to bump our shoulders together lightly.

“I can protect myself by the offer is appreciated.” I said as a smile appeared on his lips and in his eyes. He leaned in and gently pressed his lips to my forehead. I closed my eyes and leaned close to him, laying my legs over his. We sat like this until the still silence was broken by the air conditioner turning over, Steve sighed and took his hand off of ours.

“So.” He cleared his throat and looked down at me. “Ballerina?” Steve asked as I pulled away and glared at him slightly.

“You really want to know?” I asked as I ran a hand through my hair.

“If you’re up for it.” He added, squeezing my hand once again.

“I was orphaned as a young girl and that’s why I was put into Red Room, they took hundreds of young orphaned girls and brainwashed us to become secret agents. We were all given a different cover and mine was a ballerina.” I said  as Steve kept his eyes on me. “I actually know how to be a ballerina though.” Gently, I removed my hand from Steves and knelt over to unlace my boots. Tossing them to the side once I finished, I stood up. Making my way to the middle of the room, I raised myself up to the tips of my toes and started to stretch out my arms. I carefully stretched out into the arabesque position before slowly bringing my legs back down before starting to chaînés turns. Spinning repeatedly, I stopped abruptly as I felt two hands at my waist. Two eyes met mine as he brushed a strand of hair away from my face. “Care to dance?” I asked.

“I don’t know how to.” He simply said.

“I can teach you, I taught Clint. We’ll start off slow, I just hope you don’t step on my feet.” I said with a smile on my face and as soon as I did, his hands dropped and the light in his eyes slowly drained out. “Nevermind.” I said as I slowly felt my heart began to drop. I sat back down and snatched up my shoes, lacing them back up.

“No, no. I’d like that, really.” Steve stammered out as I stood up, holding his file in my hands.

“We should be going.” I said, pressing the file into his chest. “They’ll be wondering what’s taking so long.” I finished off in a flat tone as I swung open the door and stepped out into the hallway. Steve followed me out and shut the door behind him. I made my way down the hallway and hooked a sharp left as I heard his footsteps increase to keep up with me.

“Nat…” He started as two agents passed as we exchanged curt nods and Steve's footsteps fell in step with mine. We walked in silence until we reached the elevator and I jabbed the call button as we waited. The silence grew as I stood facing the doors with my arms crossed loosely behind my back. The doors opened slowly and I stepped inside with Steve closely following, his eyes locked onto me. They shut and Steve turned to face me. “Natasha…” He started but I turned on my heel sharply to face him, cutting him off.

“It’s fine Steve. It was a mistake, my mistake, it was all a mistake.” I said letting out a small sad laugh at the end as his face dropped. “Always is.” I muttered in Russian as I turned back to face the doors as the elevator slowed to a stop. The door opened to reveal a large room that was lined with ten bunk beds. There were about twelve new recruits talking amongst themselves. Once the doors shut behind us, most of their heads snapped towards the noise.

“At attention.” I called out as they all scrambled to attention with Steve falling in line as well. “This is your new recruits, Mr. Christopher Downey.” I said, motioning towards Steve. “I will be your trainer during your process of recruitment here at MI6. You will all address me as Agent Romanoff.” As soon as I said this whispers erupted around the room. I stood at the front of the room and cleared my throat causing the murmuring to cease. I made my way back towards the elevator as a whisper interrupted the silence.

“Since when do they let the KGB control MI6?” A snarky voice asked as I stopped in my tracks and cocked my head.

“Is there something you would like to say Mr…” I started as I turned to face a tall boy possibly seventeen with dark brown eyes and even darker brown hair.

“Mr. Church.” He finished.

“As yes, Mr. Church.” I said. “Please step forward.” He did with a smug grin on his face. “So anything you would like to share?” I asked with a small sickly sweet smile on my face.

“No ma’am.” He announced loudly before lowering his voice and whispering out in Russian. “But there might be something I could show you later.” He said smiling. Red surged through me as I pulled back my arm and clocked him straight in the nose. He hit the ground and stayed there. Turning back around, I continued on my way to the elevator. Pressing the call button, I turned around to face the new recruits.

“Dinner is at 1900 hours, lights out at 2100 and training starts tomorrow at 0600.” I finished as soon as the elevator rang and the doors slid open. Nodding towards the recruits, I called out. “Dismissed.” They broke ranks and two others went to check on the fallen Mr. Church. I stepped in the elevator and the doors shut just in time for me to see Steve look at me with a stare of pure desperation. When they closed, I let my mask fall and the tears well up. 


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Natasha gets a surprise visitor

The elevator continued its descent as I wiped away furiously the tears that threatened to spill over and flow down my cheeks. Slowly the car stopped and I took a deep breath as the doors slid open. Alyssa was standing on the other side, her wide smile soon falling as concern filled her green eyes.

“Sweetie are you okay?” She asked, as I stepped out of the car and her arm instantly wrapped itself around my shoulders.

“I’m alright.” I said as I stiffened my shoulders and her arm dropped, the doors sliding shut behind us.

“Did something happen between you and the recruits?” She asked crossing her arms against her chest.

“Nothing permanent.” I shrugged off as a small smile spread across her face before it faded away. She lifted her hand and pressed it against her ear, turning on the communication device.

“We need a medic down in the recruit chambers, there’s been an accident.” She said, her eyes never leaving mine as I couldn’t help but let a small smile sneak across my expression. Dropping her hand, she asked, “Nothing too serious I hope?”

“Nothing permanent.” I repeated as we began to walk down the corridor.

“Did something happen between you and Steve?” She asked, her mouth too fast for her brain as I stopped in my tracks and spun around to face her.

“What did you just call him?” I asked, my eyes narrowing slightly as I copied the stance that she had taken seconds ago. A flush of red spread across her face as she simply smiled at me.

“It’s not everyday you meet America’s First Avenger, no one could forget a face like that.” Alyssa said, as I let out a sigh and pinched the bridge of my nose. “It’s alright though, no one else noticed dear.” Reaching out, she placed a hand on my shoulder and I dropped mine. “He also asked me for directions to your room.” She squeaked out.

“What?” I nearly shouted, the Spangly Man wasn’t exactly covert material.

“Well I was making my way back to our flat and he looked very confused and stopped me so that he could ask where you were.” She said, with a sly smile on her face. “Now I’m pretty sure it’s not common for all new recruits to get all cozy with their handlers.”

“You told him where I was?” I asked, raising in eyebrow as the red across her features got deeper.

“Of course, it’s my job as your matchmaker.” Alyssa said, taking one of her arms and wrapping it around mine, as she started to walk again, dragging me along with her. Pregnant women are strong, geez I thought as I was complacently walked down the corridor. “So what happened?”

“He said he didn’t know how to dance, so I offered to teach him, then he just shut down.” I said, shrugging my shoulders as we turned the corner. She patted my hand. “This is all a mistake, I shouldn’t have let this happen, I know better Alyssa, I was trained better.” I started, muttering out the last part.

“Sweetie, no training in the world can prepare you for human emotions. No amount of manipulation or brainwashing can trick the human heart.” She simply said. “You don’t know him that well and maybe it wasn’t you that set him off, maybe it was him. We all have our own secrets kept in the past, you should know that better than anyone.” Ending on this, we reached two large oak doors and stopped at the entrance. “Time to eat, are you going to come in?” She asked as she swung open one of the doors, exposing the large dining hall that was inside.

“I’ll make sure they all get here.” I replied as she smiled at me sadly before walking inside as the door swung shut behind her. I only waited for a few minutes before a large group of recruits made their way to the doors, their leader was a medic that gave me a small nod before opening the doors. Close behind him was Mr. Church, bandaged up with gauze covering the center of his face. As they all filed in, the medic stayed behind.

“There’s one more coming, Mr. Evans, he was in the restroom when he left. You should head inside.” He offered, keeping the door extended.

“Go on in, make sure no one chokes.” I smiled slightly, receiving only a curt nod as he

followed the recruits inside. Wiping my now sweaty hands on my suit, I stood up straighter and waited for the sound of arriving footsteps. They came soon enough with a calm Steve Rodgers making his way over to me, his long strides slowly becoming shorter. “Steve…” I started, but I didn’t get very far as he carefully grasped my arms and plastered his lips against mine. Taken off guard, my foot fell back and he continued the route until my back was pressed up against the nearest wall and his arms were securely encircled around my waist. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I kissed him back until I was out of air and forced myself to pull my head away from his.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have reacted like that it’s..” He began to ramble, but with a smile on my face I leaned up and kissed him, softer and kinder then our first encounter.

“It’s fine.” I said softly, as I pulled my face away from mine by mere millimeters. “Let’s just go inside, we can talk later.” I finished, as I slowly slid my arms down and his grip on my waist relaxed.

“We need to…” He started as he pulled himself away from me and I took a step forward.

“They’ll notice.” I added in, running a hand through my hair and taking a deep breath. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Steve stand up straighter, fix his hair and adjust his shirt. “Let’s do this.” I said, swinging open the door and walking into the noisy hall.

* * *

 

The halls were filled with noise as we all made our way back to the dorms. The recruits seemed to be adjusting fine, conversing with each other, joking and laughing. Steve was actually appearing to be quite a social butterfly, attracting lots of female, and even male attention. Elevators rang out as groups climbed on and made their descent back to the dorms. Last to go were my recruits with Steve the last one to walk on, giving me a fleeting glance as the door slid shut.  Making my way down the hallway, I gave the fellow agents small nods as I made my way back to my chambers. Reaching my door, I turned the knob and walked inside to see Clint laying on my bed. My face lit up and a smile burst across my face.

“Clint!” I said as he shot up and a small smile spread across his features. He stretched out his arms and I flew into them, his arms grasping me not unlike Steve’s had done no more than an hour ago.

“Hey Nat.” He said, pulling back slightly from my tight grip. “How’s it going with the Capsicle?” With a smirk on his face, he sat down, pulling me along with him. Blowing a piece of hair out of my face, I crossed my arms against my chest as he nudged my shoulder with his own.

“It’s not bad, we’ve been here a day, the buildings still here.” I teased as he let out a chuckle. “Is that the only reason why you came? Worried I can’t handle myself? May I remind you of Budapest.” I offered as his eyes slightly narrowed.

“You and I remember Budapest very different.” Clint said, reaching behind him and grabbing a small box. “I got you something.” Opening the box, a small arrow rested inside, attached to a thin silver chain.  

“It’s beautiful Clint.” I said, reaching down and gently tugging the necklace out of the box.

“They’re sending me on a mission tomorrow, top secret S.H.I.E.L.D stuff. Fury requested me and I thought I’d get you something incase…” He started off as I cut him off.

“Put this on me before you say something stupid.” I interrupted him as he looked at me

and simply nodded. Turning and lifting up my hair, he took the necklace from my hand and carefully put it on me. The chain fell delicately against my throat as I placed my hand to cover the arrow. “Thank you.” I said turning around and smiling at him. “It’s wonderful, like you.” I smirked as a slight blush covered his face. He stood up, letting out a small cough and made his way to the door.

“Good luck Romanoff.” He said softly opening the door and stepping out into the hall.

“You’ll need it all Barton.” I replied as he smiled at me, without it reaching his eyes, and closed the door behind him.


	17. Chapter 17

Two sharp alarm bells rang out startling me from my empty sleep. Propping myself on my elbows, my mind raced as I recalled the events of the night before. I sat up as my face turned beet red and my fingers traced my lips. The memory of Steve and I was soon replaced by Clint’s late night visit as my fingers traveled down to the thin gold chain that was around my neck.My eyes drifted to the standard clock that was hanging on the adjacent wall.

“Fuck.” I exclaimed, springing out of bed and practically racing into the bathroom. Quickly turning the knobs, I stripped out o my shirt and panties after carefully unclasping the necklace and placing it by the sink. I hopped into the shower and for a moment or so let the steaming water slowly run over my posed muscles. Letting out a deep sigh, I quickly washed my hair and scrubbed my skin a bright pink. I shut off the water and stepped out, wrapping myself in a thick, fluffy towel. Throwing on a bra and underwear, I began drying my thick hair. Grabbing a pair of sweatpants, I slipped on a black tank top as there was a knock on the door. I hopped into the pants and called out,

“Come on in!” Expecting to see Steve standing in the doorway, I plastered on a large smile that fell when I met brown eyes, instead of green. “Hey Nick.” I said, ruffling my hair with the towel to distract myself.

“You ready to go yet?” He asked with a sly smirk on his lips. Leaning against the door, his black uniform moved in sync with him. Rolling my eyes, I tossed the towel into the basket, letting my damp curls cascade over my shoulders.

“Why are you here?” I asked, snatching a pair of socks, slipping them on, my eyes catching the scar that sliced my foot down the center.

“Just came to make sure you weren’t sleeping in the first day on the job.” He shrugged as I laced up my boots. Standing up, I holstered my knives and slipped on my Widow’s Bites. “Are you planning on using those today?” Nick asked, raising an eyebrow at me.

“So that’s why you’re here.” I said, walking into the bathroom and snagging the necklace from the counter. Clasping it around my neck, I walked back into the bedroom as Nick looked at me with an amused expression on his face.

“Why am I here then?” He asked innocently. Narrowing my eyes at him, I crossed my arms against my chest.

“Because I knocked that fuckboy out.” I smiled cynically, making my way out the door. Clasping my shoulder with his large hand, he smiled down at me before closing the door behind us.

“I couldn’t be more prouder.” He said as I smiled back at him. We walked to the elevator in silence and Nick jabbed the call button. The elevator doors slid open to reveal Alyssa balancing a stack of papers.

“Good morning you two.” She said with a smile on her face that I returned and Nick exchanged with a kiss on the check.

“Shouldn’t you be sitting down or something?” Nick asked nervously as she scoffed at him and winked at me.

“Make sure that she doesn’t hurt anyone this time.” She instructed as the doors slid shut. Nick let out a deep breath and smiled at me slightly before pressing a button on the control panel. The ride was in silence and when the doors slid open, Nick stepped out, standing at attention and I fell in step behind him. The room fell into silence when I walked in and Nick cast a glance at me and I grinned innocently. He began ranting off on his routine speech as I caught glance of Steve. Standing with his perfect soldier stance, I couldn’t help but bite at my bottom lip. His shirt was...well snug wouldn’t even begin to do it justice. Those blue eyes hidden under green were locked straight ahead and of course his cot was perfectly made with hospital corners and all. When Nick finished his spiel, he walked back towards me and I tore my gaze away.

“To the training room.” He called out as he exited the room, the recruits fell in step behind him. Following Steve out, I walked beside him. Looking over at me, he smiled brightly and winked at me. Giving him a sly smirk, I brushed past him and the other recruits to join Nick at the center of the training room.

“Now before we can actually begin whipping your sorry asses into shape, we have to see what you can do.” I started off, dipping underneath the ropes of the wrestling ring that the entire room centered around. All eyes were on me; mostly scared expressions met mine. “For your first assessment, you’ll be sparing off against me. Agent Buckley will be the ref so things don’t get too out of hand.” I threw in, a devilish grin flittering across my lips. “So hurry up and pick your first tribute.” I swayed on my heels as I watched the small mass shuffle and rearrange itself. Throwing my hair into a high ponytail, I looked down at the line in front of me and smirked at my first victim. “Mr. Church.” I said as he swung himself into the ring. Standing directly across from me, he mirrored my stance and simply stood there. After a moment or so, he lunged at me which I quickly avoided. Sighing, I stood there as he regained his balance. He threw a punch that nearly hit home before I placed a sharp kick between his ribs. As he lost the air that was in his lungs, I hit him squarely in the jaw and he stumbled back. Firmly pushing him all the way down with my foot on his chest, I stood above him. Over his growing groans, I kept my foot on his chest as I addressed my audience. “This is a perfect example of how to get yourself kidnapped or killed. He focused too much on attempted brute strength which can easily be avoided.” I announced as I removed my foot and gently nudged him until he slid off the mat, hitting the floor with a thud.

“Next,” I called out as a well built African American boy joined me on the mat. Reestablishing my stance, I smirked and curved my finger at him. This continued as one after another, all the recruits fell, some faster than others. A lot of them actually tried, but all of them landed on their asses. They all walked off the mat slightly embarrassed, all extremely relieved. Although the thin, black haired girl did give me a small wink before she picked herself off the mat. Everyone had stepped up, then either walked or rolled off except Steve. As he climbed onto the mat, I stretched out my muscles and rolled my neck. He smiled at me and rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet. “Bring it on Captain.” I murmured teasingly in French. His eyebrows shot up and firmly smiled at me. “I might have skimmed your file.” I replied, raising my arms and throwing my hair back. I watched as he stood there staring at me, as if he was trying to figure out how to not damage me. Pulling back my arm, I threw a punch at his jaw which he narrowly dodged. Staring at me with an amused expression, he copied my stance and slightly shook his head. We started circling one another, taking quick jabs back and forth. Steve finally landed a punch that barely scraped my jaw. Smiling wider, I threw one right back that caught him in the temple. Dropping his arms slightly, I took the opportunity to side sweep his legs out from under him, landing in a crouch. He lost his balance and fell to the mat with a crash. Doing a small summersault, I pinned him down, straddling his waist. Leaning over him, I heard him clear his throat and his face turned a deeper shade of red. “Not bad lover boy.” I said, smiling and intertwining our fingers together. Raising an eyebrow at me, he gave me a devious grin that I was starting to love.

“I let you win.” He said. I leaned in closer, closing the miniscule space between up, I press my lips to his temple as I heard his breath catch in his throat. Leaning back all the way, I stood up and offered him my hand. He grasped it and stood next to me. We stared at eachother for a while until a voice echoed out,

“Agent Romanoff.” An agent called out as I turned my head to see a middle aged man holding a phone out towards me. Sliding out between the ropes, I grasped the phone and pressed it to my ear.

“Romanoff.” I said, hearing the crackle from the other line.

“Barton's been compromised.”

 

 


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all are enjoying the fic and I am working on making the publications more common and constant. There is a lot more to come.  
> P.S. I OWN NOTHING! It's about time I said this.

My heart stopped in my chest as my grip on the phone loosened and it fell to the floor with a crack. Steve looked down at me with a unmasked concern as I tried to piece the news together. Taking in a deep breath, I straightened out my shoulders and strode out of the room. Steve’s footsteps followed close behind me as I nearly broke out into a sprint.

“Nat…” He started saying as I rounded the corner and jabbed continually at the elevator call button. “Natasha…” I heard him faintly call again as I cursed the elevator to hell and back. “Romanoff.” Steve called out, a sharp edge to his voice as he reached out and took my finger off of the button. Holding my hand in both of his, I let out a shaky breath through trembling lips.

“They have him Steve.” I said, my voice barely coming out through my clenched throat. “They have Clint.” I said, my voice slightly stronger as the doors slid open. letting out a small choked sob, I allowed Steve to escort me into the car and let his arms encircle me. As the doors slid shut, Steve pressed a button, I hoped was the right one. I pulled my hand back and pushed my hair back away from my face. Steve’s arms remained wrapped strongly around me as I took a few deep breaths and urged my heart to stop frantically pounding against my chest. Clint was missing, dead, or worse. I had left him and this had happen. S.H.I.E.L.D. had let this happen. Clenching my fist, the doors slid open and hearing the breath catch in someone’s throat caused me to curse my stupidity. Steve’s arms dropped and he quickly turned on his heel. Turning around, my gaze quickly met Nick’s and I immediately ran into his arms.

“What’s wrong?” His arms went automatically around me and I swear I could feel Nick’s piercing glare hitting Steve.

“They have him Nick.” I whispered out, as Nick grasped me tighter. “I should’ve been with him. I can’t believe it, I should’ve been with him. I can’t lose him Nick.” I choked out as I let out a dry sob as he pressed my face into his chest. After a few moments, I came to my sense and protocol snapped into place. I dropped my arms and Nick followed suit. Making my way down the planned route in my head, two sets of footsteps followed me.

“What’s up with the recruit?” I heard Nick call out to me which I barely heard over my own racing thoughts.

“Nick meet Steve Rodgers.” I said, hearing only the misstep of a set of footsteps before we fell back into the same rhythm. Stopping at my door, I turned to Nick and spoke sharply, commanding more than asking. “We need a flight to New York that lands yesterday. I don’t care how you do it, the strings you have to pull or the souls you have to sell, just get us there.” Nick simply nodded, absorbing my default settings as if my mood swings were nothing. As he walked off, I tore open the door and raced in. Steve shut the door behind us as I whipped off my tank top and grabbed my suit off of the bed. I heard Steve awkwardly clear his throat as I peeled out of my sweats. Rolling on my suit, Steve called to me from the bedroom.

“Who has Barton?” Sighing, I flipped my hair off of my neck.

“All they said was that he was compromised. That means that someone got him and I need to go get him.” I said, explaining simply as I saw the light glint off of the necklace that was around my neck. Swallowing the lump in my throat, I walked back into the bedroom, zipping up the front of the suit. Steve’s eyes lept automatically from the range of movement to my eyes, The slight blush that spread across his face caused me to allow a small smirk to cross over my lips before what he said next slapped it right off.

“Why don’t you let S.H.I.E.L.D. handle it?” He suggested in an attempt to be reassuring. Cutting his small smile with a sharp glance, I slid on my Bites.

“Because S.H.I.E.L.D. got him into this mess and he’s my responsibility just like I’m his.” I snapped as I saw his jaw clench.

“I’m pretty sure Clint can handle himself Romanoff.”: He clipped off as I slowly made my way over to him.

“You got that right Captain.” I smirked as his eyes met mine. Stopping right in front of him, I mock pouted as his eyes flickered down to my lips. “Is that jealousy I detect Cap?” I murmured. His hands shot out, grasped my waist and pulled me close.

“You’re damn right it is.” He nearly growled as he pressed his lips against mine harshly. Getting over the slight shock of the sudden transformation of the man in front of me, I kissed him back and encircled my arms around his neck. Running my fingernails over his scalp, I clutched his hair in both hands as he tried to muffle a deep groan. He pulled me closer until we were pressed together and he back us up until my back hit the wall. As I let out a small gasp, he took it to his advantage, nipping my bottom lip, sending shivers up my spine. Propping myself on my tip toes, one leg at a time, I wrapped my legs around his waist. He tightened his grip on my waist in response. Just a little too tight. I guess the super soldier wasn’t used to close quarters. Before I could stop myself, with my other defenses down, a small whimper escaped from my throat. Almost instantly, he dropped his grip and I gripped him tight to stay upright. Pulling his lips from mine, I actually had to catch myself from following him. Looking at me with concern in his unfamiliar eyes, I carefully unwrapped my legs from his waist and my arms from his neck. “Are you alright? I...I hurt you…” He said softly. Stepping off from the wall, I spoke gently,

“It takes a lot more to hurt me.” He looked at me and went to speak but I quickly stopped him. Slipping a hand in the waistband of his pants, I pulled him closer. Leaning in, I whispered in his ear. “We Russians like it rough.” Quickly nipping at his earlobe, I watched as the message sunk it.

“Oh…” He said as his eyes roamed mine and I smirked as he finally put the pieces together. “Oh!” His face turned a bright red and he began stuttering incoherently. Pressing a gentle kiss on his cheek, I met the strange eyes and an almost goofy smile. “That’s my Cap. Just do me one favor.” I started off as he gave me a slight nod to continue. “Take those damn things out.” I finished, patting his cheek. Reaching up to his face, I stopped his hand. “Later, now, I have to go safe Clint’s sorry ass.” I said, my high of happiness crashing hard into a deep pit of unease and worry. Pulling my hands away, I made my way to the door and pulled it open. I started to plan my full out assault on S.H.I.E.L.D. when Steve’s stammering interrupted me.

“Did y..you and um...Barton...ever um…” Steve trailed off as I let out an amused smirk cross my lips.

“Steve Rodgers, the Captain America, are you asking me if me and Barton ever had sex?” I asked, loud whispering the last word, earning myself a blunt glare. “No Capsicle, I’m a virgin, just like you.” I said, keeping my pace as he kept close in step with me.

“How do you know I’m a virgin?” He asked, holding his head higher and extruding the high levels of testosterone that usually came with an assaulted manhood. Catching myself mid-eye roll, I sighed.

“Sweetie, you were raised in the forties. If we were ever to have sex, it would be on our wedding night, maybe.” I joked as I snuck into the security’s room and grabbed a pair of keys. Turning around, I met the same blue eyes that struck me at first glance and now sent shock waves through me.

“You want to get married? One day…” The intensity of his gaze caused my face to turn a shade of red that could rival a tomato.

“Don’t you have to court me for like three years before you should even think about proposing. Besides after the shit, I’m about to pull, I might be getting deported and I could just imagine the warm welcome Captain America would receive in Russia.” I quickly turned the subject around, marching my way out of the side door that lead to the nearly empty parking lot. Catching the outline of the rising sun, I couldn’t help but remember the same sun rising a few days ago over New York City. 


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year to you all! I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I enjoyed attempting to make it wonderful. Enjoy!

I slid into the driver's seat as Cap opened the passenger's side door. Slipping the key into the ignition, I turned over the engine of the large black Sedan. Steve sat down in the seat, shutting the door behind him just in time as I began to pull out of the mainly empty parking lot. 

“Are you legal to drive over here? Don’t you need a special license or something…?” His righteous intentions being pushed to the forefront of his mind as I pressed the gas even closer to the floor, propelling us down the empty dirt road. 

“Well I know how to drive, if that answers your question. With the plates, we won’t get pulled over and I’ll try my best not to kill us both.” I smiled, speeding off of the uncharted path onto the paved highway and the morning commute. Weaving out of cars, through honks and some obscene gestures, I finally sped off an exit and into a less populated road, driving away from the city. “Not too bad, eh Rogers?” I asked casually, looking over at Steve who was gripping his leg with white knuckles. Reaching over, I took one hand off of the wheel to place it ontop of his. 

“No wonder Clint told us to never let you drive.” He said, shakily, releasing his grip on his leg to turn over his hand, intertwining his fingers with mine. 

“When did he tell you this exactly?” I asked, trying to keep a light tone in my voice as the taunting task of saving Clint formed a pit at the bottom of my stomach. 

“A few days before you actually showed up.” He said, looking over at me as he began running his thumb over the top of my hand. “Just that and a few other warnings. He was really excited about getting you into the program, wouldn’t stop talking about you. God, you should’ve seen how excited he was right before you showed up, the smile on his face. I understand it now.” Steve added at the end, squeezing my hand. After a few moments of silence, he cleared his throat and asked, “So how did you and Clint meet?” The tone in his voice was a vain attempt as a simple curiosity, but underneath it, the question was something much more. 

“The first time I met Barton I was twelve and i was sent on a kill mission undercover as a diplomat's daughter.” I started to explain as I readjusted my one handed grip on the steering wheel. Picking up a constant rhythm, Steve continued on with stroking my hand. 

“They sent you on a kill mission at twelve?” He asked, unable to mask the shock in his voice.

“Eight actually but it was just slipping an ambassador some poison in his after dinner wine so it doesn’t really count.” I answered, managing to keep my voice light. My eyes flicked between the road and the rising speedometer as I continued on with my story. “Anyways, Clint was there trying to prevent the kill, he was just beginning to freelance. I completed my mission and nearly killed him in the process. After that, we stayed on each other's radars, of course, Clint had to go and join S.H.I.E.L.D. when he turned sixteen. The next time we actually crossed paths, I was fifteen and I was undercover with an independent agent. He,” I let out a small, sad sigh, “is a different story however, Clint was in my way once again but with S.H.I.E.L.D.’s help, he managed to stop the kill and nearly killed me in the process. Failure isn’t an option when we came from so what Clint did wasn’t that bad.” I let out a slight, nearly hysterical, laugh as Steve tightly gripped my hand. Slowly, I released a breath I didn’t know I was holding and slightly lifted my foot off of the gas as I raised my chin. “The last time we were on opposite sides, Clint was sent on his first solo mission to assassinate me. Birdie made a different call and here I am today.” I finished, regripping the steering wheel in a nervous tick as I looked over at Steve who was looking back with a strange mixture of emotion in his gaze. My eyes quickly darted to the road just in time to turn down a one way gravel road that led to the secluded airport. 

“Why would S.H.I.E.L.D. want you killed. You were only sixteen and being brainwashed by a demented cult organization.” Steve asked, a mixture of anger and disbelief tainting his voice. I looked back at him to see emotional blue eyes staring into me to which I could only respond with a shrug as I tore my eyes away from him.

“I showed up as a problem on their radar. I was one of Red Rooms best assassins and I hadn’t even reached graduation yet. My mission involved too many S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and their allies. Clint’s first mission as an Avenger was to assassinate me, pull out a thorn in their side. They picked him because of his prior experience in dealing with me. However, when it came down to the wire, he couldn’t pull the trigger. Instead of killing me, we sat and talked for hours.” I said with a light hearted smile on my lips. Slowly, I pulled into the small private airport. Parking the car next to the land strip, I pulled back my hand from Steve’s grasp and killed the engine. Must’ve struck a chord with him because he broke his contract with S.H.I.E.L.D. and dropped out of the Avengers. We spent  the next couple of months freelancing together, sort of. He went along on missions that Red Room allowed for freelancers to be applied too. When he finally realized what I was working for, truly, you see, S.H.I.E.L.D. had neglected to inform Clint what exactly Red Room was. All they told him was communist, Russian and evil, He reapplied for a new contract with S.H.I.E.L.D. and since they’d rather have us on their side rather than against them, they accepted Clint’s offer. After a few missions, they would break me out and to pay them back, I would join the Avengers. That’s about all I got for now Rogers.” I said, my eyes locking onto a jet that had landed during my rant. Stark was emboldened on the side in bright red letters that stood out against the black background.  The stairs slowly lowered as the pilot walked out. Letting out a shaky breath, I opened the door and slid out. Shutting the door behind me, I turned to talk to the pilot but before I could take my first step I was wrapped up in a pair of arms. “Is hugging your answer to everything Rogers?” I asked, jokingly as I wrapped my arms around his waist and gratefully accepted the embrace. “Not that I mind.” I added at the end, burrowing my face into his chest and tried to muffle a yawn, a flood of fatigue washing over me. Suddenly, I was no longer on the ground but being escorted across the tarmac in the arms of a supersoldier. 

“Let’s get you home.” He muttered nodding at the pilot and walking up the stairs.

“Your friend has sent all of your luggage ahead of you, Mr. Rogers, Miss. Romanoff.” The pilot said closing the stairs and heading to the cockpit. Steve sat down with me still in his arms as he lowered me into his lap.

“Home?” I asked him, my eyes drifting shut as I stretched out my legs on the leather seats. “I don’t have a home.” I muttered, letting out a full fledged yawn. Feeling his eyes on me, I kissed the nearest patch of skin I could feel. “Not yet anyways.” I added as he clutched me tighter and I plunged into darkness. 

 


End file.
